October 15, 2019 —Sean Kelly, who will take office as president
and CEO of The Kendal Corporation in mid-
2016, will visit Kendal at Lexington on Wednesday
and Thursday, November 11 and 12.
All residents are invited to a “Meet and Greet”
event on November 11, at 4 pm in Kendal Hall,
to be followed by a reception.
Mr. Kelly joined The Kendal Corporation in
2008 as Director for New Business Development.
He has led efforts to foster new opportunities
for growth while supporting development
initiatives for existing Kendal communities.
Previously, he spent eleven years with Connecticut-
based Retirement Living Services — a
development, finance, marketing and operations
consultant to senior housing and service
providers throughout the United States.
Mr. Kelly graduated from Ursinus College in
Collegeville, Pennsylvania, in 1992, with a
bachelor’s degree in international relations. In
2014 he completed an advanced management
program at the Wharton School of the University
of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.
John Diffey, President and CEO of The
Kendal Corporation since 1992, announced in
early 2014 that he planned to step down in
2016. Mr. Diffey has a special place in Kalex
history because it was he, visiting Lexington in
1996 and listening to the group of citizens who
wished to build a retirement community here,
who influenced Kendal Corporation’s decision to
accept this community as an affiliate. He has
visited frequently since Kalex opened in 2000.
The Kendal Corporation is headquartered in
Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, just southwest
of Philadelphia. Besides Kalex, the family of
affiliates includes full-service continuing care
retirement communities in seven other states:
Pennsylvania (Longwood/Crosslands in Kennett
Square, Barclay Friends in West Chester, Chandler Hall in Newtown); Ohio (Kendal at
Oberlin, Kendal at Granville); New York (Kendal
at Ithaca, Kendal on Hudson); New Hampshire
(Kendal at Hanover); Massachusetts (Lathrop
Communities, in Easthampton); Illinois (The
Admiral at the Lake, in downtown Chicago); and
Maryland (Collington, in the Washington, D.C.
metro area). Kendal at Lexington is the lone
Virginia affiliate and the farthest south.
The Kendal Corporation was founded in
1970 by a committee of the Religious Society of
Friends (Quakers) in Pennsylvania. A year
later, ground was broken for Kendal at Longwood,
the first Kendal community. A not-forprofit
organization, the Kendal Corporation upholds
Quaker ideals of tolerance, accountability,
and respect for the individual.
— Jo McMurtry
(originally published in the November 2015 Residents’ Newsletter)