Beloved Shepparton local Brian ‘Ned’ Kelly remembered as man with a lot of character

A popular, well-known Shepparton man who had his own corner at the local pub has been remembered as a person with character and a dry sense of humour.

A well respected Shepparton man and Aussie Hotel regular will be missed by many. Picture: Supplied

A beloved, well-known Shepparton local has been remembered as a man with a dry sense of humour.

Brian Kelly, 65, passed away peaceful in his unit at the beginning of October.

The Aussie Hotel owner Paul Tsorbaris has shared some of his fondest memories with Mr Kelly, who was a regular at the venue.

Mr Kelly, also known as ‘Ned’, has his own corner at the Aussie Hotel.

“We put a sign that said ‘Ned’s corner’ and if anybody was sitting in his chair and saw him walk in — they straight away got up,” Mr Tsorbaris said.

Mr Tsorbaris has known Mr Kelly for about eight years.

“He was just a good old fella,” he said.

Mr Kelly had his very own corner at the Aussie Hotel that will always be his "forever spot". Picture: Facebook

“Years ago I was setting up the bar and setting up a table and Ned’s sitting in his corner and this post goes up on Facebook.

“This girl was looking for this man working in the Wangaratta area named Brian Kelly and whereabouts he is.

“I looked at it and went wait and then I looked up at Ned and went over to him and said (showing the post) ‘Ned is that you?’ and he’s like ‘yep’.

Mr Tsorbaris explained to him the woman’s post was made by Mr Kelly’s daughter.

“I told him that she wants to get in touch with him and I don’t think he has spoken with his family in a long time,” he said.

“He put a big grin on his face — so I messaged her and said ‘actually I’ve got your father sitting right here behind me right now’ so we rang her up and they spoke on the phone for about an hour.”

Mr Tsorbaris said Mr Kelly was last seen at the pub on a Wednesday night.

“I was away and I got home Thursday morning and Thursday night I looked around and I was like ‘Oh no Ned? That’s strange’,” he said.

“He would have a day off every now and then — I didn’t worry about it much.

“I kept asking locals if anyone had seen Ned and they said they hadn’t seen him for a week.”

Mr Tsorbaris went over to Mr Kelly’s house since he had driven him home a few times.

“I went there, knocked, yelled, screamed, asked the neighbours but there was no answer,” he said.

Mr Tsorbaris then went back to work and called the police for a welfare check as he was concerned for Mr Kelly.

A day passed and Mr Tsorbaris found out by police Mr Kelly had died in his home.

Mr Tsorbaris said he wasn’t sure how and that Mr Kelly never said anything about his health.

“He was one of those blokes, he wouldn’t tell ya,” he said.

He was “just a character”, Mr Tsorbaris said.

“Some of the stuff he used to come out with you used to turn around and think ‘Wow where did that come from?’

“He had a lot of good friends at the pub — all the locals respected him and they looked out for to make sure he was going okay.

“He was 65 but he was a very old 65.”