Longtime Valdez leader Kelsey dies at 93

Longtime Valdez leader John Kelsey, who helped rebuild the coastal community after a devastating 1964 earthquake and was instrumental in bringing the trans-Alaska oil pipeline terminus there, has died at age 93.

The former Valdez mayor and businessman died Aug. 27 in Anchorage, where he lived during his later years, family friend Suzie Koklich said Sept. 3.

Kelsey was known for bringing economic development to Valdez for decades, and was a key player in rebuilding the town after it was destroyed by the magnitude-9.2 earthquake in 1964, KCHU reported Sept. 2 (http://is.gd/7rU63a ).

A fourth-generation Alaskan, Kelsey was born in Valdez on July 24, 1920. In 1938, he was among 10 students to graduate from the local high school. Today, more than 4,100 people live in the town, about 120 miles east of Anchorage.

Kelsey earned a bachelor of engineering degree at Stanford University, then attended graduate school at Columbia University. He also went to the U.S. Navy Officer Candidate School and Anti-Submarine School, earning the rank of lieutenant.

He was assigned to the Pacific Theater during World War II. He then returned to Valdez to help his father and brother run the Valdez Dock Co., owned by the family from 1940 to 1989.

Over the years, Kelsey served as the city’s mayor, fire chief, city councilman and developer.

He also was a member of the Alaska Permanent Fund board, serving as chairman three times, and served on the Alaska Natural Gas Pipeline Authority.

—Associated Press