[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 3]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 3772]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     A TRIBUTE TO WILLIAM M. KELSAY

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. SAM FARR

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 4, 1999

  Mr. FARR of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to convey the 
appreciation of Santa Cruz County for the long and distinguished 
service rendered by William M. Kelsay. Bill is retiring from the Santa 
Cruz Supreme Court after 21 years on the bench.
  Bill was born in Patterson, California, and graduated from Patterson 
High School in 1959. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Political 
Science from University of California, Davis and went on to study law 
at Hastings College of Law in San Francisco. He was admitted to the 
California Bar in 1969, and worked in the Office of the District 
Attorney of Santa Cruz County until his appointment as Judge in the 
Municipal Court in 1977. Bill's appointment to the Superior Court came 
in 1985.
  The legal community has relied on Bill's acumen and leadership for 
many years, and owes the current environment of collegiality and 
coordination to Bill's work to consolidate Santa Cruz municipal and 
superior courts. Bill's colleague, Judge Robert B. Younts, Jr. said of 
Bill ``He is an astute student of human nature. He is respected by all. 
He is an absolute gentleman.''
  Bill has been generous of his time away from the bench in the non-
profit sector, serving a term as Chair of the Santa Cruz Community 
Counseling Center, and as a member of Santa Cruz County Fish and Game 
Commission. He has expressed an interest in participation on community 
boards and commissions in the future. Bill is also an astute student of 
piscine nature, and certainly will reserve time for studying steelhead 
very closely in their natural habitat.
  Judge Kelsay's contributions form a continuing legacy to the legal 
community of Santa Cruz County. With his great range of interests, I am 
sure his retirement years will be filled and fulfilling. He has our 
best wishes for health and happiness into the future.

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