Frank Ray Keyser Jr. (August 17, 1927 – March 7, 2015) was an American

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

and politician from Vermont. He served as Speaker of the Vermont House of Representatives from 1959 to 1961, and the 72nd governor of Vermont from 1961 to 1963.

Biography

Early life

The son of Vermont Supreme Court Justice

F. Ray Keyser Sr. Frank Ray Keyser Sr. (September 29, 1898 – March 7, 2001) was an American politician, lawyer, and judge from Vermont. He was a lawyer in private practice and later a justice of the Vermont Supreme Court. His son F. Ray Keyser Jr. served as S ...

and Ellen Larkin Keyser, the younger Keyser was born in Chelsea, Vermont, on August 17, 1927. He served as a page in the

Vermont House of Representatives The Vermont House of Representatives is the lower house of the Vermont General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Vermont. The House comprises 150 members, with each member representing around 4,100 citizens. Representatives ar ...

in 1939. In 1945 he graduated from Montpelier High School. He served in the United States Navy during World War II. In 1950 Keyser graduated from Tufts University with a Bachelor of Arts degree, and was a member of the Delta Upsilon fraternity. He graduated from

Boston University School of Law Boston University School of Law (Boston Law or BU Law) is the law school of Boston University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top law schools in the United States and considered an eli ...

in 1952 and practiced law in Chelsea. Keyser married his first wife, the former Joan F. Friedgen (January 20, 1928 – April 17, 2002), an engineer and

statistician A statistician is a person who works with theoretical or applied statistics. The profession exists in both the private and public sectors. It is common to combine statistical knowledge with expertise in other subjects, and statisticians may wor ...

, on July 15, 1950. The couple has three children – Carol E. Fjeld, Christopher S. Keyser, and Frank Ray Keyser III. Joan Keyser served as the

First Lady First lady is an unofficial title usually used for the wife, and occasionally used for the daughter or other female relative, of a non-monarchical A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state fo ...

of Vermont during her husband's tenure as governor.

Career

A Republican, Keyser served three terms in the

(1955–1961), and was Speaker from 1959 to 1961. In 1960 Keyser defeated the

Lieutenant Governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

Robert S. Babcock Robert Shillingford Babcock (July 22, 1915 – September 1, 1985) was an American college professor and politician from Vermont. A Republican, he was most notable for his service in both houses of the Vermont General Assembly, and as lieutenant g ...

in the Republican primary for governor. He won the general election, and he served one term, 1961 to 1963. At age 33, Keyser was the youngest person to be elected Vermont's governor. During his term he initiated the Vermont Industrial Building Authority as a way to stimulate economic growth and job creation, and also oversaw expansion of the state park system. In 1961 Keyser was awarded the honorary degree of LL.D. by Tufts University. Also in 1961, Keyser appeared as a contestant on an episode of '' To Tell the Truth''; five years after an appearance by West Virginia Governor Cecil Underwood, Underwood appeared again; Keyser was one of the two impostors who claimed to be Underwood. In 1962 Keyser lost his race for reelection to Democrat

Philip H. Hoff Philip Henderson Hoff (June 29, 1924 – April 26, 2018) was an American politician from the U.S. state of Vermont. He was most notable for his service as the List of Governors of Vermont, 73rd governor of Vermont from 1963 to 1969, the state's ...

. Hoff's victory marked the first time Republicans had lost the governorship since the founding of the Republican Party in the 1850s and as of 2021 is the last time an incumbent governor of Vermont has been defeated for re-election. From 1965 to 1970, Keyser was vice president and general counsel for the Vermont Marble Company, and he was chief executive officer and chairman of the board from 1970 to 1979. From 1967 to 1972, he was on the board of the

Federal Reserve Bank of Boston The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, commonly known as the Boston Fed, is responsible for the First District of the Federal Reserve, which covers New England: Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont and all of Connecticut except ...

and he was a director of the Central Vermont Public Service Corporation and chairman of the board from 1980 to 1997. In 1980 he organized the

Rutland Rutland () is a ceremonial county and unitary authority in the East Midlands, England. The county is bounded to the west and north by Leicestershire, to the northeast by Lincolnshire and the southeast by Northamptonshire. Its greatest len ...

law office of Keyser and Crowley. Keyser also served as a director of the Union Mutual of Vermont insurance company. Keyser's first wife, former Vermont First Lady Joan Keyser, died in 2002; the couple had three children. He married Mary Lou (Underhill) Keyser in 2005. A longtime resident of

Proctor Proctor (a variant of ''procurator'') is a person who takes charge of, or acts for, another. The title is used in England and some other English-speaking countries in three principal contexts: * In law, a proctor is a historical class of lawye ...

, Keyser died at his daughter's home in Brandon on March 7, 2015, at the age of 87. He was buried at Highland Cemetery in Chelsea.

References

Sources

Vermont Folk Life Center
Biography, F. Ray Keyser Jr.

External links

*
The Governors: F. Ray Keyser
'. Chris Graff interview with former governor F. Ray. Keyser Jr. Vermont Public Television. 1989. * , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Keyser, F. Ray Jr. 1927 births 2015 deaths United States Navy personnel of World War II Boston University School of Law alumni Burials in Vermont Republican Party governors of Vermont Military personnel from Vermont People from Chelsea, Vermont People from Proctor, Vermont Speakers of the Vermont House of Representatives Tufts University alumni Vermont lawyers Republican Party members of the Vermont House of Representatives 20th-century American lawyers