Crosby M. Kelly Dies; Public Relations Pioneer

Crosby M. Kelly, a pioneer in international corporate public relations and marketing, and the man who launched the nationwide sales campaign for the first Ford car produced after World War II, died Saturday of cancer at his home in Litchfield, Conn.

Kelly, who was 68, had retired in 1978 as a vice president of Rockwell International, and in retirement worked as managing director of a graphics communications firm. His services in the relatively new field of international business relations were widely sought after, particularly after the then-32-year-old Kelly organized the Chicago Fair of 1950. In the 1950s, he established auto import outlets in Cuba, and returned to that island in 1977 to record his impressions of the new regime for Reader’s Digest.

Kelly, who spent 13 years at Litton Industries Inc., five of them as a corporate senior vice president, also founded his own management consulting firm, with offices in Los Angeles and Europe.

Kelly is survived by his wife, Willah; daughter Susan Young; son C. Bradford Kelly; two stepdaughters and six grandchildren.