John T. Kelly, college literature instructor

John T. Kelly, 71, an English literature teacher at West Chester University from 1968 to 2000, died of a brain tumor Aug. 11 at St. Joseph's Villa, a nursing home in Overland Park, Kan.

Born in Yukon, Okla., he graduated from high school there in 1955. He earned a bachelor's degree in English from St. Louis University in 1959 and a doctorate in medieval literature in 1968 from the University of Oklahoma.

His niece Katy FitzGerald said Mr. Kelly spent his teaching career at West Chester, during which, for nine summers, he took students to Oxford, England, where he taught such classics as Beowulf and The Canterbury Tales.

John Maher, who heads MJM Films in Brookfield, Conn., said Mr. Kelly was the executive producer of a feature-length documentary that Maher directed in 2005 and 2006.

At Oklahoma, Maher said, the two met when "we were part of a little film colony" that produced short films.

"After he retired," Maher said, "he came to me with a project" that resulted in Throw It Down, about an 88-day tour by the Bluecoats Drum and Bugle Corps of Canton, Ohio.

The Bluecoats Web site states that the corps began in 1974 as a program of the Canton Police Boys' Club and evolved into a community-supported group that competes in national and international events.

Besides his niece, Mr. Kelly is survived by sisters Kathleen Dunn and Mary Roberts, and five nieces and nephews.

A Funeral Mass was set for tomorrow in Kansas City, Mo.