Edward Joseph Kelly

37th Mayor of Chicago

Party

• Democrat

Elected

• First term:
  • April 13, 1933
    • Elected by City Council to complete unexpired term of Mayor Anton Cermak
• Second term:
  • February 26, 1935 (primary)
    • Defeated John P. O’Meara, Martin Powroznik and James Fred Robertson
  • April 2, 1935 (general)
    • Defeated Newton Jenkins (Third Party) and Emil C. Wetten (Republican)
• Third term:
  • February 28, 1939 (primary)
    • Defeated Thomas J. Courtney, James Fred Robertson and James J. Ryan
  • April 4, 1939 (general)
    • Defeated Dwight H. Green (Republican) and Arthur P. Reilly (Third Party)
• Fourth term:
  • February 23, 1943 (primary)
    • Defeated John S. Boyle and Billy Patts
  • April 6, 1943 (general)
    • Defeated George B. McKibbin (Republican)

Inaugurations

• First term: April 17, 1933: Inaugural Address
• Second term: April 8, 1935: Inaugural Address
• Third term: April 12, 1939: Inaugural Address
• Fourth term: April 9, 1943: Inaugural Address

Terms of Office

• First term: 1933–1935
• Second term: 1935–1939
• Third term: 1939–1943
• Fourth term: 1943–1947

Birth

• May 1, 1876
• Chicago

Personal

• Became newsboy at 9, cash boy in a department store at 11, office boy for a broker at 14, and later undertaker and surveyor
• Married Mary Roche, who died in 1918; together they had a son who died at age 14
• 1922: Married Margaret E. Kirk of Kansas City, Mo.; together they adopted three children
• 1922: Became south park commissioner, and eventually president of the board until elected mayor
• Served as chief engineer of the Sanitary District
• 1944: Took over post of county chairman

Death

• October 20, 1950
• Chicago

Gravesite

• Calvary Cemetery, Chicago

Sources

• Chicago Daily Tribune, April 14, 1933, p. 1.
• Chicago Daily Tribune, October 21, 1950, p. 1+.
• Grossman, James R., Ann Durkin Keating and Janice L. Reiff, editors. Encyclopedia of Chicago. University of Chicago Press, 2004.