April 22, 2002

Vic Kelley, Jr., who served as Manager of the UCLA Athletic News Bureau from 1945 through 1981, has died of prostate cancer. According to his son, Vic Kelley III, who was at his side, he passed away pain free and peacefully on the morning of Wednesday, April 17. Vic Jr. had spent the last several years in a San Fernando Valley convalescent hospital following a stroke that had paralyzed his left side.

Kelley was born on May 12, 1913 in Muskogee, OK, and his family came to southern California in 1924. He graduated from UCLA in 1937 and was a member of the Bruin golf team in 1934-35-36. He then spent several years in the newspaper business in San Francisco and Los Angeles before returning to UCLA in August of 1945.

Kelley is a member of the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame, having been inducted in 1989. He served as the school's sports information director for 36 years, beginning his tenure on "VJ Day" - August 14, 1945. In 1972, he was honored by his fellow SIDs with induction into the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Hall of Fame.

During his tenure, he worked with some of the greatest coaches and athletes in UCLA history, including coaches John Wooden in basketball, Red Sanders, Tommy Prothro, Dick Vermeil and Terry Donahue in football and Ducky Drake in track and field and athletes such as Lew Alcindor (now Kareem Abdul-Jabbar), Gary Beban, Bill Walton and Rafer Johnson.

During Kelley's years as SID, the men's basketball team won 10 NCAA titles and produced eight national Player of the Year selections and 29 first-team All-America selections. The football team won the 1954 National Championship and played in six Rose Bowls, recording its first Rose Bowl win on Jan. 1, 1966. UCLA had 14 Top 10 Heisman Trophy finishes, including Beban's win in 1967, and 40 first-team All-America selections, including the only three-time consensus All-Americans in Pacific-10 Conference history (Jerry Robinson and Kenny Easley).

In addition, he also served as head coach of UCLA's men's golf team from 1948 through 1975. He then served as an assistant coach for eight years, including two after his official retirement from the University. During his tenure, he coached four All-Americans, was considered the 'father' of the Southern California Intercollegiate Golf Championships and compiled a record of 204-140-9. He served six years as an officer of the Golf Coaches Association of America, including as president in 1969-70. He was also a member of the NCAA Golf Tournament Committee for six years, serving as chair from 1969-71.

In 1983, he was inducted into the Golf Coaches Association of America Hall of Fame. During his tenure at UCLA, he took a leave of absence in 1962 to head up the organization of the United States Track and Field Federation, act as its first executive director and serve as the NCAA's Television Liaison Officer.

Upon his retirement in 1981, he became the athletic department's sports historian and was instrumental in the development of UCLA's first Athletic Hall of Fame, which opened in June of 1984, serving as its curator.

Services are scheduled for Friday, April 26, at 11:00 a.m. at the Church of the Hills at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills. Vic Jr., is survived by his sister, Betsy Lueke, his son, Vic Kelley III, and his daughter-in-law, Cheryl Kelley.