Tamarac Pioneer 2014

The Broward Historical Commission honored Paul Anthony Kelly as Tamarac's Pioneer for 2014 at their 42nd Annual Pioneer Day celebration.
Paul Anthony Kelly, son of Paul Anthony Kelly and father to Paul Anthony Kelly III came to Broward County in 1974 from New Jersey. Paul lives with his wife Annie and has a daughter Laurel Christina.

Paul graduated from Cooper City High School and attended Broward County Community College. He was a member of the first graduating class of the Broward Fire academy in 1977. Upon his graduation he was one of the first paid fire fighters in Cooper City, where he remained for 4 years.

Paul then joined the Tamarac Fire Rescue in 1981 as an EMT/paramedic. Paul remained with Tamarac Fire for 30 years until he retired 2011. Some of the highlights of Paul's career were:
Paul mentored Eagle Scouts in Broward County as an assistant Scout Master.

He created a Fire Prevention movie to teach our school children about fire utilizing Sparky the Fire Dog. He has taught over 2000 students during Fire Prevention Week in October. He even created a bedroom to further demonstrate to the students how to get out of a burning room.

Paul helped design and implement signs and a mapping system for fire hydrants along the barrier walls on the our highways, approved by the State of Florida for the Sawgrass Expressway. This system is now on the Florida Turnpike and is being looked at by the State of New Jersey for implementation there.

Due to Paul's construction knowledge he was active in the reconstruction of Tamarac's Fire Stations 41 & 78. He was also on the committee to build station 15, the City's Fire Rescue headquarters.
Paul was Fire Fighter of the year in 2010.

Paul volunteers his time to mentor and train the Tamarac Fire Rescue Cadets, a passion for him.
Tamarac Fire Rescue added paramedics to it ranks in 1992. Paul was a Lieutenant Paramedic when he retired in 2011, due to Parkinson's disease.

This was not the end of Paul's career but just a beginning of a new phase. Some of his accomplishments after retiring are:

Paul has been able to continue to train the Cadets in the fundamentals of fire fighting by volunteering his time. His active love for the fire service motivates him to mentor the youth interested in becoming a fire fighter.

Paul loves the history of fire rescue and is writing a book on the subject. He is the expert on the history of Tamarac Fire Rescue.

He is on the Board of the South Palm Beach Chapter of the National Parkinson Foundation. He helped start support groups for young Parkinson patients. He is also the chairman of the Moving Day Parkinson Fund Raising Walk. Most recently Paul was named as President of the  South Palm Beach Chapter of the National Parkinson Foundation.

Tamarac is proud to have Paul Anthony Kelly as Tamarac's Pioneer for 2014.