Kelsey Pharr was born in Chester, South Carolina, in 1891.  He completed his grade and normal school training in the schools of Salisbury, North Carolina. In 1912, after earning an AB degree from Livingston College in North Carolina, Kelsey moved to Miami and worked at the Royal Palm Hotel as a bellboy. He saved his tips in order to pay for further educations and was soon able to attend embalming school in New York.

In 1914, he became Dade County’s first licensed black embalmer and funeral director. He owned Pharr Funeral Home at 1025 Northwest 2^nd Avenue and the Lincoln Memorial Park, one of the most beautiful cemeteries in the South. Pharr was the first black to own and operate an ambulance service and opened the first community public telephone and Western Union service in the area.

Although Pharr had substantial real estate holdings and businesses, he is best remembered for his many civic interests such as organizing the first black Boy Scout troop in Florida. In 1943, Pharr won an appointment as Counselor for the Republic of Liberia and was subsequently knighted by the Liberian government.

Kelsey Pharr Elementary School at 2000 Northwest 46^th Street in Miami, is named in his honor.