(WWJ) Governor Gretchen Whitmer has ordered U.S. and Michigan flags on public buildings and within the State Capitol Complex be lowered for two weeks "to honor the life and service of former Attorney General Frank Kelley."
Whitmer said the flags will fly at half-staff from Saturday, March 6 through Saturday, March 20.
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Kelley died Friday at 96 in Naples, Florida.
“Frank J. Kelley was one of my absolute favorite people from whom to get advice, perspective, or humor,” Whitmer said in a release. “He was a never-ending fount of wisdom and fun. From his college days to the battles he fought as Michigan’s longest serving attorney general, he always had stories and insight into the human condition and generosity of time.”
In a statement, current Attorney General Dana Nessel described him as an “extraordinary man, the quintessential public servant, and a legend in his own time.”
Born in 1924; Kelley, a Democrat, served as State Attorney General for 37 years from 1961 when appointed by former Governor John Swainson to 1999, earning him the nickname: “Eternal General.”
He helped create a consumer protection unit and environmental protection unit. Writer Jack Lessenberry entitled his biography of Kelley: “The People’s Lawyer.”
Flags will be returned to full staff on March 21.