SENATE
HOUSE
JOINT
BILL STATUS
STATE LAW
REPORTS
EDUCATIONAL
CONTACT
home
home
Introduced Version House Resolution 9 History

   |  Email
Key: Green = existing Code. Red = new code to be enacted

 

HOUSE RESOLUTION 9

 

(By Mr. Speaker, Mr. Armstead, Delegate Rowan)

and

All Members of the House of Delegates

 

[February 27, 2017]

 

Memorializing the life and lamenting the death of Dr. Ken Hechler.

            Whereas, Ken Hechler was born on September 20, 1914, in Roslyn, New York, the son of Charles Henry and Catherine Elizabeth Hauhart Hechler and the grandson of German immigrant, George Hechler; and

            Whereas, Ken Hechler received a bachelor’s degree from Swarthmore College in 1935, where he helped organize campus support for President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal, much to the chagrin of his staunchly Republican parents.  He earned a master’s degree in 1936 and Ph.D. in political science in 1940, both from Columbia University; and

            Whereas, Dr. Hechler was drafted into the United States Army in 1942 and was originally trained as an infantryman and then as a tank commander.  He was eventually assigned as an Army combat historian in Europe and rose to the rank of Colonel; and

            Whereas, After the war, Dr. Hechler taught politics at Princeton University before joining President Harry Truman’s administration as an adviser on local-level issues.  He stayed throughout Truman’s administration and into the administration of President Dwight D. Eisenhower; and

            Whereas, From 1953 to 1957, Dr. Hechler was Associate Director of the American Political Science Association in Washington, D.C.; and

            Whereas, Ken Hechler was then appointed to the faculty of Marshall College (now Marshall University) where he was a longtime presence on campus; and

            Whereas, In 1958, he ran for and won a seat in the United States House of Representatives where he served nine terms before running for governor in 1976 but lost to a fellow New York transplant, Jay Rockefeller; and

            Whereas, In 1984, Dr. Hechler ran for and was elected Secretary of State where he served for sixteen years; and

Whereas, In addition to his public service, Dr. Ken Hechler was an accomplished author whose works included “The Bridge at Remagen,” “Goering and His Gang,” “West Virginia Memories of President Kennedy,” and “Working with Truman: A Personal Memoir of the White House Years;” and

            Whereas, In his later years, Ken Hechler was a political activist in support of workplace safety and environmental issues.  On June 23, 2009, then aged 94, Dr. Hechler participated in a protest near mountaintop removal mining sites in the West Virginia coalfields; and

            Whereas, Unmarried for almost all of his life, Dr. Ken Hechler married Carol Kitzmiller, a longtime friend and fellow mountaintop removal protestor, on August 12, 2013; therefore

Resolved by the House of Delegates:

That the members of the House of Delegates hereby publicly memorialize the life of Dr. Ken Hechler, and collectively mourn his death, while remembering that he leaves behind a legacy of success and accomplishment; that this House of Delegates proclaims that although Dr. Ken Hechler has passed from this earthly life, he will continue to live in the hearts and minds of those who knew him; and, be it

Further Resolved, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a certified copy of this resolution for his wife.                                                   

This Web site is maintained by the West Virginia Legislature's Office of Reference & Information.  |  Terms of Use  |   Email WebmasterWebmaster   |   © 2024 West Virginia Legislature **


X

Print On Demand

Name:
Email:
Phone:

Print