MONTPELIER, Vt. — F. Ray Keyser Jr., the former Republican governor of Vermont whose 1962 defeat by a Democrat is seen as a turning point in the state’s transition from one of the most conservative in the country to one of the most liberal, died on Saturday at his daughter’s home in Brandon, Vt. He was 87.
His death was confirmed by Dennis Cilley, director of the Boardway & Cilley Funeral Home.
Mr. Keyser served three terms in the State House, including two years as speaker, before being elected Vermont’s youngest governor at 33 in 1960.
He served just one term, taking office just as cracks began to appear in generations of Republican dominance of state governance.
Mr. Keyser’s 1962 defeat by Philip Hoff, a Democrat, ended 108 years of Republican control of the Vermont governor’s office. It also was the last time an incumbent governor was ousted in the general election.
Frank Ray Keyser Jr. was born in Chelsea, Vt., on Aug. 17, 1927. His father, F. Ray Keyser, served in the Legislature in the 1930s before becoming a State Supreme Court justice. The elder Mr. Keyser heard cases until he was 90 and died in 2001 at 102.
Mr. Keyser served in the Navy during World War II. He was a graduate of Tufts University and the Boston University School of Law.
During his two years leading the state, Vermont invested in its park system, and the state budget was balanced without new taxes.
Mr. Hoff eked out a victory in the 1962 election with the help of the Vermont Independent Party, a group of anti-Keyser Republicans.
After leaving office, Mr. Keyser served on the boards of several corporations, including Central Vermont Public Service Corporation, where he was chairman until its merger with Green Mountain Power, Vermont’s largest electric utility.
His survivors include his wife, Mary Lou Keyser; a sister, Natalie Niles; his sons, Christopher and Frank Ray III; a daughter, Carol Ellen Fjeld; nine grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.
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