A RESOLUTION Adjourning the Senate in Loving Memory and Honor of Kelsey Evans Friend, Sr

UNOFFICIAL COPY AS OF 04/08/18 02 REG. SESS. 02 RS BR 1493

A RESOLUTION adjourning the Senate in loving memory and honor of Kelsey Evans Friend, Sr. With deepest respect and admiration, we pay homage and tribute to our friend and colleague, Kelsey Evans Friend, Sr., and we pause in silent reverence for his soul. WHEREAS, Kelsey Evans Friend, Sr. was born on March 18, 1922, a native of Pike County, Kentucky, and he traversed these earthly bounds on August 25, 2001, with his funeral being held on August 29, 2001, at First Presbyterian Church in Pikeville; and WHEREAS, Kelsey Evans Friend, Sr. was the loving son of the late James Pembroke and Clarice Mullins Friend; he was the devoted husband to his loving wife, Margaret Earp Friend; he was the adored father of two sons, Judge Kelsey E. Friend, Jr. and Joe Jett Friend, and a daughter, Clarissa Friend; he was the proud grandfather of six grandchildren and a great-grandchild; and he was the loving brother of a sister, Evelyn Friend Newsom, and two brothers, Wallace Friend and Ballard Friend; and WHEREAS, Kelsey Evans Friend, Sr. graduated from Pikeville High School where he was an avid football player; he earned his Teacher's Certificate in 1942 from Pikeville College, after which time he taught at Blairtown Grade School; he graduated from the University of Kentucky School of Law in 1949 and earned his Master of Laws (LL.M.) degree from Duke University in 1950; and WHEREAS, Kelsey Evans Friend, Sr. served his country with distinction in the

United States Army during World War II; he was wounded in battle, and was the recipient of the Infantry Combat Badge, Purple Heart, Bronze Star Medal, 1st Oak Leaf Cluster, Victory Medal, and the European Theater of Operations Medal with three battle stars; and he served as Major in the Army Reserves; and WHEREAS, Kelsey Evans Friend, Sr. had a lengthy and impressive political career, beginning as master commissioner for the thirty-fifth Judicial District for Pike County from 1950 to 1952; he served as Pike County Attorney from 1954 to 1957 and Commonwealth's attorney from 1958 to 1963; he had an unwavering dedication to the

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Democratic Party and served as chairman of the Pike County Democratic Executive Committee from 1964 to 1967; and he served in the Kentucky Senate from 1972 to 1980 and from 1984 to 1996 where he was chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and Senate Democratic Whip during the 1976 and 1978 legislative sessions; and WHEREAS, Kelsey Evans Friend, Sr. committed his life to the welfare of the Pike County community, and he served as an inspiration to his peers through his endless efforts, tireless commitment to the causes and beliefs he steadfastly supported, and astute leadership in the spearheading of meaningful projects, such as securing funding for major road projects on U. S. 23 and 119 in Pike County, and acquiring state and federal funding for the construction and improvements at the Pike County Regional Airport; in 1988 he initiated legislation that created the Depressed Counties Economic Development Authority that led to bringing Mountaintop Baking and more than 700 jobs to rural Pike County; he played an instrumental role in legislation which brought greater amounts of coal severance tax funding back to Eastern Kentucky counties, and he was credited with drafting the Kentucky workers' compensation laws that made it easier for injured workers or coal miners afflicted with black lung disease to obtain benefits for their conditions; and WHEREAS, the passing of Kelsey Evans Friend, Sr. has left a void that cannot be filled, and he is mourned across the length and breadth of the Commonwealth; NOW, THEREFORE,

Be it resolved by the Senate of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky: Section 1. This honorable body does hereby express its utter sense of bereavement upon the passing of Kelsey Evans Friend, Sr., and extends to his family and many friends its most profound and deepest sympathy. Section 2. When the Senate adjourns this day, it does so in loving memory and honor of our friend and colleague, Kelsey Evans Friend, Sr. Section 3. The Clerk of the Senate is hereby directed to transmit a copy of this

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Resolution to the family of Kelsey Evans Friend, Sr., P. O. Box 512, Pikeville, Kentucky 41502.

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