James Aloysius Farley Jr. (May 26, 1928 – August 6, 1986) was an American sports commissioner who served as chairman of the

New York State Athletic Commission The New York State Athletic Commission or NYSAC, also known as the New York Athletic Commission, is a division of the New York State Department of State which regulates all contests and exhibitions of unarmed combat within the state of New York ...

from 1975 to 1977.

Early life

Farley was born on May 26, 1928, at Good Samaritan Hospital in

Suffern, New York Suffern is a Administrative divisions of New York#Village, village that was incorporated in 1796 in the town of Ramapo, New York, Ramapo in Rockland County, New York. Located adjacent to the town of Mahwah, New Jersey, Suffern is located 31 miles ...

to Elizabeth and

James Farley James Aloysius Farley (May 30, 1888 – June 9, 1976) was an American politician who simultaneously served as chairman of the New York State Democratic Committee, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, and United States Postmaster Gener ...

. He attended Canterbury School and Georgetown Preparatory School. On March 11, 1950, he married Patricia Dillion in the

Lady chapel A Lady chapel or lady chapel is a traditional British English, British term for a chapel dedicated to Mary, mother of Jesus, particularly those inside a cathedral or other large church (building), church. The chapels are also known as a Mary chape ...

of St. Patrick's Cathedral. The couple divorced on July 19, 1967 in Mexico. On August 15, 1967, Farley married Jean Loew at the

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Professional career

Farley began his professional career as the vice president of his father's building material business - the General Builders Supply Corporation. He later served as president of Brooklyn's Central State Bank. Farley was also part of a group that owned New York's

roller derby Roller derby is a roller skating contact sport played on an oval track by two teams of five skaters. It is played by approximately 1,250 amateur leaguesA Roller Derby league is synonymous with an individual club or team in other team sports, as ...

franchise and was one of the sports chief promoters.

New York State Athletic Commission

In 1956, Governor

W. Averell Harriman William Averell Harriman (November 15, 1891July 26, 1986) was an American politician, businessman, and diplomat. He was a founder of Harriman & Co. which merged with the older Brown Brothers to form the Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. investment ...

appointed Farley to fill the seat on the New York State Athletic Commission vacated by Robert K. Christenberry. In 1960, Farley was reappointed by Harriman's successor

Nelson Rockefeller Nelson Aldrich "Rocky" Rockefeller (July 8, 1908 – January 26, 1979) was the 41st vice president of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977 under President Gerald Ford. He was also the 49th governor of New York, serving from 1959 to 197 ...

. He was not reappointed when his term ended in 1965 and was succeeded by Albert Berkowitz. In 1975, Farley was appointed chairman of the athletic commission by Governor

Hugh Carey Hugh Leo Carey (April 11, 1919 – August 7, 2011) was an American politician and attorney of the Democratic Party who served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1961 to 1974 and as the 51st governor of New York from 1975 to 1982. Early ...

. Prior to taking office, the commission had been inactive and had its budget eliminated for financial reasons. As chairman, Farley pushed for legislation to legalize boxing and wrestling on Sundays and to eliminate the minimum age requirement to attend these events. In 1977, Farley served as supervisor of the United States Boxing Championship, a

Don King Donald King (born August 20, 1931) is an American boxing promoter, known for his involvement in several historic boxing matchups. King's career highlights include, among multiple other enterprises, promoting "The Rumble in the Jungle" and the ...

promoted boxing tournament sponsored by

ABC Sports ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial America ...

. As supervisor, he received free travel and living expenses. Due to alleged kickbacks and fixes in the tournament, Governor Carey ordered an investigation. On April 24, 1977, Farley suspended himself from the commission until the investigation was complete. He resigned from the commission on June 3, 1977.

Death

Farley died on August 6, 1986, at the

Seton Medical Center Seton Medical Center (originally Mary's Help Hospital) is a 398-bed hospital owned by AHMC Healthcare. Founded in San Francisco, the current facility is located in Daly City, California, United States.

Daly City, California Daly City () is the second-most populous city in San Mateo County, California, United States. Located in the San Francisco Bay Area, and immediately south of San Francisco (sharing its northern border with almost all of San Francisco's southern ...

from complications following heart bypass surgery. He was survived by his three children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Farley, James A. 1928 births 1986 deaths American bank presidents New York state athletic commissioners New York (state) Democrats