Father, daughter killed in crash part of ‘pillar’ family at Ellicott City parish, pastor said

By Maria Wiering
mwiering@CatholicReview.org
A funeral Mass for a father and daughter killed in a helicopter crash July 27 near Scranton, Pa., will be held Aug. 5 at Church of the Resurrection in Ellicott City.
Bernard “Bernie” Kelly, 58, and his daughter, Leanna Kelly, 27, both from Howard County, were among five people killed in the accident, which may have been caused by poor weather and visibility, according to news reports.
Bernie was a member of St. Paul in Ellicott City. The extended Kelly family is a “pillar” of the parish, said pastor Father Matthew T. Buening.
“The Kelly family … does so many good things,” Father Buening said. “They’re the heart of the parish.”
Father Buening plans to celebrate the funeral Mass. He said the family chose the first Scripture reading from Ecclesiastes 3, which includes the well-known verses: “There is an appointed time for everything, and a time for every affair under the heavens. A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to uproot the plant.”
“The point of that reading, at least the comfort that it’s given me, is that as human beings, there is a time for great joy and there is a time of great sorrow in our lives,” Father Buening said. “God embraces all of those moments. In every moment, in every time, he is there.”
A luncheon following the funeral Mass will be held at St. Paul. 
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