Davis Uriah I | Born 1707

KELLY, Earl Lee

Male 1892 - 1962  (70 years)


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  • Name KELLY, Earl Lee 
    Born 28 Apr 1892  Riverton, Oregon Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Gender Male 
    Died 1 Nov 1962  Sanger, Fresno County, California Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Person ID I10982  Uriah Davis I - Genealogy
    Last Modified 21 Jun 2018 

    Father KELLY, Gustavis Ferndinand,   b. 18 Sep 1856, Algonquin Township, McHenry County, Illinois Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 2 Apr 1922, Chico, Butte County, California Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 65 years) 
    Mother LEE, Mary A.,   b. 1 Nov 1869, Cascade, Dubuque County, Iowa Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Aft 1920, Probably Berkeley, Alameda County, California Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age > 52 years) 
    Married 31 Mar 1890 
    Family ID F1686  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family JESSEN, Elsie Katherine,   b. Abt 1898, California Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Yes, date unknown 
    Married 28 May 1921  Shasta County, California Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Children 
     1. KELLY, Earl Lee
     2. KELLY
     3. KELLY
    Last Modified 24 Jun 2018 
    Family ID F3634  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Notes 
    • 1920 census:
      Earl Lee Kelly appears living in District 109, Redding, Shasta Co., California
      He stated he was 27 years old and was employeed as a title search officer, and was self employed.
      At the time he was single and was listed as a lodger on Yuba St.,

      1930 census:
      1539 Riverside Drive, (Dist. 24) Redding, Shasta Co., California
      Age 37, married at 28, 3 children, Works in Title Insurance.

      Earl became a successful realtor in Redding before he was appointed California State Director of Public Works, overseeing such projects as the Bay Bridge, the Tower Bridge in Sacramento and many others.
      He was appointed vice-president of Bank of America on January 16, 1939 by L. M. Giannini.
      He also ran for Governor of California twice, the first against Earl Warren in 1946, and second against Goodwin Knight in 1950. He eventually became Vice-President of the Bank of America.
      -
      Excerpt from Time Magazine (Nov. 19, 1945)
      ...One Earl Lee Kelly, a stem-winding, dyed-in-the-wool Republican, let fly with a speech which accused Warren of "vacillation . . . opportunism . . . political expediency" and lack of "courage and character." He mailed out 50,000 copies of an anti-Warren cartoon, which showed the governor frantically trying to ride an elephant and a donkey going in opposite directions. And he hinted that he might run against Warren in next year's primary.

      Earl Kelly believes and says that the Republican Party should be frankly conservative, and no nonsense about it. A hearty, well-barbered Irishman with a fine baritone voice, he learned the political ropes as highway commissioner and director of public works under Republican Governors Rolph and Merriam. Just before Merriam was beaten for re-election in 1938, he joined the Bank of America as a vice president. Last spring he started an investment banking firm of his own (First California Co.). He will run for governor, he said, if "support lines up for a real business leadership."...
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      SSN: 567-14-9092
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      OBITUARY:
      Oakland Tribune Newspaper (November 2, 1962)
      Earl Lee Kelly
      CARMICHAEL, Sacramento County --
      Funeral services for Earl Lee Kelly, State Director of Public Works during construction of the San Francisco - Oakland Bay Bridge, will be held at 11 a.m. Monday in the Carmichael Community Church.
      Mr. Kelly, 70, long a prominent Republican, businessman and civic leader, died Thursday in a Fresno hospital. He had suffered a heart attack two days earlier while driving from Palm Springs to his home in Carmichael.
      A native of Riverton, Ore., he grew up in Humboldt County and earned a law degree at the University of California.
      At the time of his death he was a retired vice president and consultant for Bank of America.
      Mr. Kelly was mayor of Redding in 1925, chairman of the State Highway Commission in the early 1930s and for many years served as a member of the State Fair Board.
      He is survived by his wife, Elsie Kathryn; two sons, Lloyd of Sacramento and Earl Lee Jr. of Portland, Ore., and a daughter, Kathryn of Orinda.