Edward W. “Mike” Kelley Jr., who served 14 years as a member of the Federal Reserve Board and was instrumental in modernizing the banking operations of the Federal Reserve system, died Dec. 4 at a hospital in Washington, his city of residence. He was 84.
For many years, Mr. Kelley ran a Houston manufacturing and services company started by his father. President Ronald Reagan appointed him to the seven-member Fed board in 1987. He was reappointed by President George H.W. Bush in 1990.
During much of his tenure on the board, Mr. Kelley chaired the committee that oversaw the operations and payment systems of the Fed’s 12 regional banks. In that role, he led efforts to modernize the Fed’s computer systems and prepare for a smooth transition during the century date change in January 2000.
In 2005, the Houston branch building of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas was named in Mr. Kelley’s honor.
Speaking at the dedication ceremony, then-Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan called Mr. Kelley “my friend, confidant and golf partner.” He said Mr. Kelley’s work to get the Fed system prepared for the Y2K computer change greatly contributed to the success the Fed had in operating in crisis mode following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Greenspan said Mr. Kelley was also instrumental in increasing the efficiency of Fed operations by modernizing the way its regional banks coordinated the handling of services to commercial banks.
Edward Watson Kelley Jr. was born in Eugene, Ore., on Jan. 27, 1932, and he grew up in Houston. He was a 1954 history graduate of Rice University and received a master’s degree in business administration from Harvard Business School in 1959.
His first wife, Ellen Elizardi, died in 1988. Survivors include his wife of 27 years, Janet Haase Kelley of Washington; three children from his first marriage, Kinsloe Colwell of Austin, James M. Kelley of Portland, Ore., and Michael M. Kelley of Austin; and four grandchildren.
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