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, solici ...

and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

from

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the ...

. He served as

Speaker of the Vermont House of Representatives The Speaker of the Vermont House of Representatives is the Speaker or presiding officer of the Vermont House of Representatives, the lower house of the Vermont Legislature. The Speaker presides over sessions of the Houses, recognizes members s ...

from 1959 to 1961, and the 72nd

governor of Vermont The governor of Vermont is the head of government of Vermont. The officeholder is elected in even-numbered years by direct voting for a term of 2 years. Vermont and bordering New Hampshire are the only states to hold gubernatorial elections every ...

from 1961 to 1963.

Biography

Early life

The son of

Vermont Supreme Court The Vermont Supreme Court is the highest judicial authority of the U.S. state of Vermont. Unlike most other states, the Vermont Supreme Court hears appeals directly from the trial courts, as Vermont has no intermediate appeals court. The Cou ...

Justice Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...

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 Chelsea is a town in and the shire town (county seat) of Orange County, Vermont, United States. The population was 1,233 at the 2020 census. Geography Chelsea is located in a river valley in central Vermont. The First Branch of the White Ri ...

, 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 (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Vermont. The House comprises 150 members, with each member representing around 4 ...

in 1939. In 1945 he graduated from Montpelier High School. He served in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. In 1950 Keyser graduated from

Tufts University Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learnin ...

with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

degree, and was a member of the

Delta Upsilon Delta Upsilon (), commonly known as DU, is a collegiate men's fraternity founded on November 4, 1834 at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It is the sixth-oldest, all-male, college Greek-letter organization founded in North Americ ...

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 el ...

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 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 An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad ho ...

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. 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 A general counsel, also known as chief counsel or chief legal officer (CLO), is the chief in-house lawyer for a company or a governmental department. In a company, the person holding the position typically reports directly to the CEO, and their ...

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 Federal Reserve Bank, First District of the Federal Reserve, which covers New England: Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont and all ...

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 l ...

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