Kelly and Lilly Mack, two members of the San Mateo community who were among the first builders and organizes of the St. James A. M. E. Zion Church 100 years ago.
Kelly Mack, who was born February 12, 1898, came to San Mateo with his wife Lilly and their two children, Kellmar and Oswald, from Eutaw in Green county Alabama. The decision to relocate came at the urging of his brother, after a white street car conductor put a gun to his head for sitting in the “ wrong section of a streetcar.” Ironically, it was at that time, Corporal Kelly Mack had just returned home from serving his country in the Signal Corp during World War I. He had been stationed at Schofield Barracks in Hawaii where black men were typically assigned since the U.S. of America did not want non-whites in direct combat against a white enemy.
After moving to San Mateo, Kelly Mack did part time work at Noah William’s restaurant which was called Noah’s Ark, located on the corner of San Mateo Drive and 3rd avenue where this cater corned edifice reportedly still stands today. During that time, Black men, who came to San Mateo, were typically hired to work as waiters and busboys at Noah Williams’ cafeteria style restaurant that was known for unusually delicious ham. The Mack family lived, for a time, in a house on the corner of Fremont at 803 Mt. Diablo Avenue. This house was next door to the original location of St James A.M.E. Zion Church in the parking lot of what is now the Martin Luther King Center.
During the depression, the Mack family grew, with the addition of Audrey and Edwin. Although jobs were not plentiful Kelly Mack was resourceful. He began a cleaning business at new housing development sites. During those days, new plumbing fixtures came wrapped in newspaper that was glued to porcelain and was very difficult to remove. Fortunately, Kelly Mack was resourceful. He was able to invent new ways of effectively removing glued paper from porcelain fixtures, as well as paint, cement and putty splashes from windows, tile floors, walls other surfaces. The Kelly Mack’s House Cleaning Service business thrived as he branched out from just cleaning at new construction sites to include cleaning older homes as well. Because of the popularity and effectiveness of his House Cleaning business at construction sites, he was able to influence those in the construction industry to donate building materials, scaffolding, lumber, plumbing supplies, paint and mortar that were all needed during both the initial construction of the first St. James church sanctuary and years later for repairs after the arsonist fire in 1967. In fact, the entire construction community responded to Mr. Mack’s requests after the arson fire, an occurrence which was considered to be a blot on the entire city.
Whenever the church doors were opened it seems as though both Kelly and Lilly, who was a class leader and a member of the Trustee Board, were there to answer the call. Kelly Mack hammered, nailed, painted and sanded along with the best of them to keep St. James in good shape.
The Mack family began their membership during the tenure of Reverend Kinnard, the first Pastor of record to be appointed to St. James. Their active membership continued to include the subsequent administrations of 14 other ministers appointed to lead the St. James congregation. Reverend Rufus A. Cooper, who served two separate appointments as Pastor of St. James, fondly described Kelly Mack, during his funeral, as one who was either going 100 miles an hour or he was at a dead stop. There was no in between speed when it came to getting the work done. We pay tribute, as a part of this year long 100th anniversary observance, to Mr. and Mrs. Kelly Mack for their tireless devotion as two of the early builders of St. James A.M.E. Zion Church.
Submitted by: Sis. Sylvia Baker