Elias W. "Woody" Kelly

Pennsylvania Game Commission — Harrisburg, PA

Accident

End of Watch August 10, 1919

Age 56

Tour of Duty 6 yrs

The Vigil Panel 37 ›

Gender Male

Incident Service The Sacrifice Department 11

Incident

Field Superintendent Woody Kelly and Chief Game Protector Joseph Kalbfus were killed when their patrol car was struck by a "Fast Express" train in Warren County, Pennsylvania.

The two were traveling from DuBois to Warren as part of their inspection of the state game preserves. About 12:15 pm Superintendent Kelly was driving across a track crossing near Sheffield when the express train rounded a curve and struck the car. Dr. Kalbfus was thrown from the vehicle and died instantly while Kelly was pinned between the wreckage of the car and the locomotive. This crossing was in a dangerous location and was the scene of another accident about a week earlier.

Superintendent Kelly had originally been hired as a Traveling Game Protector six years earlier, then promoted to Superintendent of Game Preserves. He was known for his devotion to duty as well as his knowledge of the outdoors. He was instrumental in selecting the locations for the state preserves.

Survivors

He was survived by his wife and seven children.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier: BO-US-PA-575AB5DA
Stewardship: Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
Added to badge.nw: April 2, 2026
Last updated: July 23, 2026

Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.

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Tributes

I never knew you. I am standing here anyway.
Field Superintendent Kelly gave the Pennsylvania Game Commission 6 years.
Thank you for your service to the Harrisburg community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Field Superintendent Kelly.

— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993

Agency

Department Pennsylvania Game Commission

Location Harrisburg, PA

Platform Identity pgc.dauphin.pa.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch August 10, 1919

Tour of Duty 6 yrs

Age 56

Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Accident

Field Superintendent Elias W. "Woody" Kelly is one of 10,088 officers lost to accidents in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 31% of all 32,508 officers honored here.

In PA, 417 of 1,261 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 33.1% of this state's fallen. That is 2.1 percentage points above the national rate of 31%.

At Pennsylvania Game Commission, 5 of 12 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 41.7% of this agency's fallen.

Pennsylvania Game Commission

of 12 officers

41.7% Accident

PA — Statewide

417

of 1,261 officers

33.1% Accident

Nationwide

10,088

of 32,508 officers

31% Accident