Ernie Kell Explained

Order:25th
Office:Mayor of Long Beach
Term Start:1984
Term End:1994
Predecessor:Thomas J. Clark
Successor:Beverly O'Neill
Birth Name:Ernest Eugene Kell, Jr.
Birth Date:5 July 1928
Birth Place:Washburn, North Dakota
Death Place:Long Beach, California
Spouse:Jackie Kell

Ernest Eugene Kell, Jr. (July 5, 1928  - April 29, 2017) served as mayor of Long Beach, California from 1984 to 1994, and as a city councilor for 13 years.[1] [2]

Life and career

Kell was born into modest circumstances on a farm in Washburn, North Dakota. His family moved to Wilmington during the Great Depression, where he would graduate from Phineas Banning High School. He received an associate degree from Long Beach City College, and attended California State University, Long Beach.[3]

Kell was a United States Merchant Marine, and also United States Army veteran of the Korean War. He would later own a drafting and contracting company.[4] [5] [6] In 1973, he married his wife Jackie, herself a Long Beach city councilor from 1998 to 2006.[7] Kell died from cancer at his home in the El Dorado Park neighborhood of Long Beach. He was 88.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Archives. Los Angeles Times. 11 June 1989 .
  2. Web site: Old cemetery gets attention. 9 July 2010 .
  3. News: Archbold . Rich . Ernie Kell, Long Beach's first elected mayor, dies . Press Telegram . 30 April 2017.
  4. Web site: Archives. Los Angeles Times. 2 June 1988 .
  5. Web site: The Political Graveyard: Politicians in Construction in North Dakota.
  6. Web site: History.
  7. Web site: Archives. Los Angeles Times. 21 July 1988 .