Joseph Kelly Sr. would never think of ignoring a person in need.
Friends and family say Kelly always offered to help people any way he could. He'd shovel snow for neighbors without being asked. He'd devote hours to installing a friend's hot-water heater, or fixing a shed.
He never expected anything in return.
Kelly, 55, of Levittown, was the kind of person who made any neighborhood a better place to live. He was still a welcome face in Olney, where he raised his family before moving a few years ago.
Around 2 a.m. on Monday, Kelly was returning home from his job with the Marine Guard Service, delivering a seaman from a hospital to a hotel. As he drove on the Vine Street Expressway in Center City, Kelly saw a homeless man in a wheelchair rolling, incredibly, westbound in the eastbound lanes.
Kelly stopped his van on the shoulder of the highway and ran across the lanes of traffic to help the man, Jeffrey Williams, 43. He was trying to push Williams off the expressway when a truck struck them, killing both men.
Kelly, an Army veteran and father of three, gave his life trying to perform one more act of kindness. There's no greater sacrifice.
If you're fortunate, you know someone very much like Kelly - a person who spends each day eager to help anyone in need. Too often, we take them for granted.
It's too late to thank Kelly for all that he did. But his family and friends can be very proud of his selflessness. Good neighborhoods often get singled out because of their fancy homes or top schools. But it's everyday heroes like Joe Kelly who really make a community special.
