A Distinguished Dozen: James O'Kelley

James T. O’Kelley Jr.

Age: 69

Hometown: Asheville, N.C.

Residence: Glenmore in Albemarle County

Occupation: Engineering consultant, retired military and government employee

Personal: Lives with his wife, Jan, and beagle, Lucky. He has three adult children, Tara Leigh Friedman, Coleen Erin Branche and James T. O’Kelley III

Seventh in a 12-part series

Luckily for Albemarle County, James O’Kelley cannot retire to a simple life of leisure.

The 69-year-old retired U.S. Marine Corps colonel and oft-decorated Vietnam veteran, retired government employee and holder of a doctorate in engineering from George Mason University has averaged about 630 hours a year for four years as a volunteer with the Albemarle Sheriff’s Office’s reserve division.

“You get into a pattern in your life where you’re used to be being busy doing a lot of different things and finding ways to improve what’s being done or do what’s not being done. Then, when you go to retire and take it easy, you can’t,” O’Kelley said, sitting behind his desk in the den of his Glenmore home, a den decorated with mementos from a life of military, government and public service.

“I believe in making things happen,” O’Kelley says. “If you’re doing things and are involved in what’s going on around you, it keeps life interesting. Relaxing and playing golf just wasn’t me.”

O’Kelley is all about doing. He commanded a Marine engineering battalion in combat near Khe Sanh, earning a Bronze Star for valor, the Purple Heart, the Combat Action Ribbon and the Legion of Merit.

He worked as an engineer with the CIA, a computer systems analyst for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, a program and budget analyst and cartography branch supervisor for the U.S. Geological Service and emergency response coordinator between the USGS and the Department of Homeland Security.

He served in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve and was recalled to active duty in 2005 to work with Marines being deployed into Fallujah, Iraq.

When he moved to Albemarle in 2006, he found himself acting as a courier between the National Ground Intelligence Center and intelligence officials in Langley. That’s when he discovered the sheriff’s reserve unit.

“I decided to look into a concealed weapons permit and I wound up talking with a member of the reserve,” O’Kelley recalled. “I’d never really thought about it, but when they invited me to join, I thought I’d try it.”

He tried it.

He liked it.

Retired from most of his professional pursuits, O’Kelley worked with former Sheriff Ed Robb, helping develop policies and procedures and training programs for the reserve unit. For some time he helped to provide security at First United Methodist Church’s soup kitchen.

He’s also a trustee at the church, serves as an election official and has sat on the Glenmore Community Association’s Board of Directors.

“Mental, physical, emotional and spiritual needs are like the four tires of an automobile and if you keep them in balance, your driving is easy,” O’Kelley said. “You work hard to go places and get things and you reach an age when you realize that you need to help others. When I retired, I still wanted to keep things moving and doing things and the way to do that was to focus on giving back to the community.”

He does that the way he knows best — through hard work.

“Jim is part of the command staff in the reserves and he’s done an incredible job in bringing a high level of professionalism and training to the division,” said Albemarle County Sheriff J.E. “Chip” Harding. “He has amazing skills and dedication that he brings to the department and to the county and I don’t think the community knows how lucky we are.”

O’Kelley has found himself at the core of the department’s TRIAD program, which is aimed at helping seniors protect themselves from crime and in emergency situations.

The reserve unit partners with local agencies and the Charlottesville Sheriff’s Office in the TRIAD program.

“So much of the credit for the success of that program goes to the reserve unit because they have really taken it on,” Harding said. “We’ve put more and more responsibilities on the reserves and Jim has played a major role as a sergeant in making that happen.”

O’Kelley gives Harding credit for much of the reserve unit’s professionalism.

“Sheriff Robb did a great job and Sheriff Harding has taken it to the next level,” O’Kelley said. “If you’re going to do the job, you need to have the training. If you are wearing the sheriff’s uniform, people don’t know if you’re on the reserves or not and they don’t care. They expect you to have the training and professionalism of full-time staff.”

Since arriving in Albemarle County, O’Kelley, his wife, Jan, and their beagle, Lucky, have been joined by two of his three adult children who moved to the region.

“We really love it here. It’s a great place and a great community and we really enjoy being a part of it,” O’Kelley says. “There’s a lot to do here and I like that idea.”