Taken from the...Oak Bay Volunteer Services Newsletter (April 2002)

About Barry Kelly

'Has anybody here seen Kelly'? The old vaudeville song fits our present case. It seems that all his adult life Barry Kelly could be characterized by the term 'active'. He's been a real estate man for over thirty years, most of that time in Hamilton, Ontario, his original hometown. Even a short list of his professional activities tells you that here is a man on the go and someone who loves his golf.

When Barry graduated with a liberal arts degree from the University of Western Ontario back in the early 1970's, like many of us, he wondered which path in life to choose. Following a family trend, he first tried his hand in a law office, but quickly realized that this was not for him. Years later, thinking back on those early days, he remembered coming to the double conclusion that, 'I'd really like to make money, and I'd really like to help people'. Soon he was fortunate enough to find a calling which enabled him to do both. He went into selling real estate, a job he has enjoyed from that day to the present.

In early days he commonly worked a 14-hour day, which perhaps is why at one point he was number two in sales in a company of 300. Along the way, for a number of years he was a successful office manager for Royal LePage. Eventually he established a successful company under his own name. When he left Hamilton to move to Victoria, in 1995, he had a sales 'force' (the word is his) of thirty.

A past president of the Metropolitan Hamilton Real Estate Board, he chaired many committees for them. He was also prominent in the Ontario Real Estate Association, at one time a director-at-large, appreciated for his sense of humour, acerbic wit, and a capacity for insightful reasoning. In such activities, he seemed to have found his métier.

Representing that Association brought Barry on his first visit to Victoria in 1992. Both he and his wife Fionnuala - Dr. Fionnuala Killian, a specialist in physical medicine and rehabilitation, now associated with the Gorge Road Hospital - took an immediate liking to our fair city. Apparently it reminded her somewhat of her Irish homeland, and she felt here some affinities with the west of Ireland's city of Galway, itself a capital and administrative centre with a beautiful downtown core.

So, with some reluctance at leaving the Hamilton area and their many friends there, Barry and Fionnuala moved west in the fall of 1995, to settle in Victoria with their son Patrick Michael, now a 15-year old student at Glenlyon-Norfolk School.

But how did he come to be an Oak Bay Volunteer? Well, it happened the same way for him as it did for several of us: he received a volunteer brochure with his first municipal water bill! This was a signal to that part of him which says, 'I'd really like to help people'. With so many needing drives - to doctors' appointments, or hospital, or shopping - drivers are always much in demand by Oak Bay Volunteer Services. This is what Barry first chose to do. Before long, he became a Board member (a natural for him, it seems) and currently he is Chairman of the Board.

Though a young, fit-looking man, Barry was recently hospitalized for major surgery. He was not kept in for as long as expected, coming out on the now historical date of 11 September, or 9/11, a fact which reinforced his sense of the value of life.

Looking back over his thirty plus years of selling real estate, he will tell you it is a job he enjoys to this day. He appears to be a man who found his niche. Which brings us back to that early insight about simultaneously making money and helping people. 'Nine times out of ten' Barry says, speaking of his career, 'we get big smiles. I can't spend those smiles, but they keep me going'. A positive, outward-looking man, he very likely feels the same about volunteer work.

"In His Own Words"

I believe that if you are thinking about hiring a Realtor to look after one of your greatest assets, then you are entitled to know enough about that person to allow you to make such an important decision with comfort and ease.

My roots are in Ontario; I was born, raised, educated and employed there for most of my life. After graduating from the University of Western Ontario in 1971, I started selling real estate, first with C. Gordon Todd & Associates and then with Kronas Real Estate until I got my broker's licence in 1978 and started managing an A. E. LePage branch office for the next ten years.

As a salesman, I was consistently in the Top Ten of a 300 plus sales force and, as a sales manager, our office was ranked in the Top Twenty-five percentile across Canada. I opened my own office, Barry Kelly Real Estate Inc., in 1988 and built up a successful, 30 person sales team over the ensuing seven years (until we headed to B.C.).

Over the years, I have been very involved in organized real estate, sitting on and/or chairing most committees at the Metropolitan Hamilton Real Estate Board and, subsequently, the Ontario Real Estate Association. I'm a past president of the M.H.R.E.B., a past director of the O.R.E.A. and, upon arriving in B.C., once again, got involved in committee/task force work at the Victoria Real Estate Board.

Why should any of this be important to you? How will any of this benefit you? I believe that my success over these many years both in selling and managing clearly reflect my level of commitment to my profession and to the growth of my skills. You can be completely assured that my knowledge and expertise will help you to achieve your real estate goals as well as protect you from any unforeseen difficulties or problems.

I have had many satisfied clients over the years and I would very much like to have you become one as well.

"In Her Own Words"

Dear Barry,

In 2007 most of our REALTORS® experienced another successful year. Your accomplishments, however, went well beyond "successful".

I am writing to confirm that you have placed in the top 5% of the national Royal LePage sales force for 2007, and thus have been named recipient of the prestigious Director’s Platinum Award. You have also been named an “Award of Excellence” recipient, signifying that you have finished in the top 10% of the country for at least 5 of the past 7 consecutive years.

Barry, your results are truly outstanding and on behalf of Royal LePage Coast Capital Realty, I want to congratulate you on your achievements. Our industry is both demanding and challenging as you are well aware and achieving these awards means that you represent the very best in our REALTORS®. I can think of no person more deserving of these honours.

I also want to thank you for your continued dedication to professionalism in representing Royal LePage Coast Capital Realty. Your care and concern for your clients are an inspiration to us all.

Wishing you another fantastic year in 2008,

Judy Gage, President
Royal LePage Coast Capital Realty

For Barry "Real estate is “not just a job, it’s a profession”."

Words from the man I still can call my teacher and my friend even though he is now settled in B.C. He was a member of the M.H.R.E.B. for close to 25 years, past-president, chairman of many committees, director-at-large with O.R.E.A., fund-raiser, and member of many committees in the public sector. He, too, was taught by one of the greats, Balys Kronas.

I am but one of the many who crossed his path and became the beneficiary of his love of real estate, his wit, the concise way he looked at problems, his desire to be the best he could be. Barry set an example wherever he went.

The day I met Barry Kelly is a day that I will never forget, I was changing careers and had talked to many different people on what to pursue. I met Barry at his new office one sunny early spring afternoon.

I did not know who he was or what I was expected to know, I had been a professional and service provider all of my life, I talked and he listened; one of his greatest strengths. He answered my questions realizing that this was to be a big step in my life.

On leaving I knew that whatever I chose, here was a man from whom I wanted to learn. That day I made the decision to became a real estate professional.

Over the time, which has passed, I reflect on that sunny day and what it has done for me and the people around me. He taught uncompromising morals and ethical standards, to be enthusiastic, and to believe that “you get what you give in life,” and “it comes back to you in spades”.

In closing, I feel that on this, the 75th Anniversary of M.H.R.E.B., Barry Kelly should be remembered: for his service; for setting a good example for all to see; for his belief in the education of realtors; and for passing along the banner and pride in the profession we love.

I know I’m not alone in this wish.

Ron Leaist
formerly of Barry Kelly Real Estate Inc.