LEE, Mary A.

Notes:

Mary appears as May Kelly on the 1920 census in Berkeley Town, Alameda Co., California. She stated she was divorced and was working as a nurse in a private home.
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Mary is said to have married a Mr. O'Brien, and may have died in the 1930's.

Mary married KELLY, Gustavis Ferndinand 31 Mar 1890. Gustavis (son of KELLY, William C. and KLINCK, Mary Ann) was born 18 Sep 1856, Algonquin Township, McHenry County, Illinois; died 2 Apr 1922, Chico, Butte County, California. [Group Sheet]

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.
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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.

Earl married JESSEN, Elsie Katherine 28 May 1921, Shasta County, California. Elsie was born Abt 1898, California; died Yes, date unknown. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Lloyd tragically died from injuries suffered in an accident, running into a pole while trying to catch a train.