Posted on 10/02/2006 4:58:17 PM PDT by lunarbicep
Former U.S. Rep. Helen Chenoweth-Hage died Monday in a car crash, her daughter said.
Chenoweth-Hage, a Republican who was elected to Congress from Idaho in 1994 and served through 2000, was 68. Her daughter, Meg Chenoweth Keenan, said Chenoweth-Hage was a passenger in the Monday morning crash near Tonopah, Nev. No one else was seriously injured in the one-car crash, she said.
Chenoweth had been married since 1999 to Wayne Hage, a Nevada rancher who came to epitomize Nevada's Sagebrush Rebellion as he battled for decades with the federal government over public lands and private property rights. He died in June at age 69.
Born in Topeka, Kan., Chenoweth-Hage grew up in Grants Pass, Ore. and attended Whitworth College in Spokane, Wash., before moving to the northern Idaho timber town of Orofino, where she worked at Northside Medical Center.
She became a well-known political name in the state when she moved to Boise in the 1970s, serving as the executive director of the Idaho Republican Party and becoming U.S. Rep. Steven Symms' chief of staff.
She ran for Congress against incumbent Democrat Larry LaRocco and gained national attention when she held "endangered salmon bakes," serving canned salmon and ridiculing the listing of Idaho salmon as an endangered species during fundraisers.
An advocate of smaller government and property rights, Chenoweth-Hage won the race and served a self-imposed three-term limit as a U.S. representative.
She was a true role model.....not only for women but for common sense legislating.
Less than a year after Wayne.
I'm absolutely shocked to hear this terrible news.
She was always one of my favorites...I would have
liked to have seen her elected as the first woman
President.
This is my second shock of the night....less than an
hour ago, a strong, vibrating earthquake shook my house
and a big chunk of my state.....the State of Maine!
We're not supposed to have earthquakes here.....
An incredible lady. I saw her in action and she was a conservative's conservative. God Bless her.
I cannot believe she died this way...anyone have any details about this crash? No one else injured and she is the only one dead...?
Got the news soon after it happened. Felt like a hard kick to the gut.
Helen was in my modern-day top ten most admired patriots.
And it wasn't just her great service to the republic, as awesome as that was. As a person, and as a Christian, she shone. She had an uncanny ability to make you her friend quicker than just about anybody I've ever met. And there was nothing contrived or phony about it at all. It was real. She was real.
In my mind, that could be her epitaph: "She was real."
The mantle has now settled even further onto Bill Sali's very capable shoulders.
Damn Wayne recently and now Helen. World sucks today.
ping.
+
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God rest her soul. This should be a warning to people that like crossing the desert at 90 or 100 in little cars. Your eyes must be at least 6 feet off the concrete and be able to see 3 miles downrange. It's an aircraft over 90 and you need to pay attention all the time. Buy a big truck for that. On the I-15 between Barstow and Vegas, there are little wrecked cars once in a while hundreds of feet in the desert and no trucks.
Just wanted to make sure you'd heard.
I didn't think she wanted to hold national political office again, but have to admit I haven't followed her very close in the last few years.
She had a good head on her shoulders. I would have liked to have seen her in the Senate.
It's just sad to see the good ones go. I still haven't gotten over Barbara Olsen.
God rest her soul, I believe she really was a conservative who voted her conscience and not political convenience.
Prayers and condolences to family and friends.
Sorry to hear of it. Prayers for her and her family and supporters.
The US Government has painted all its helicopters black as a sign to mourn her untimely, tragic death. We'll miss you, Helen.
She was a courageous lady who will be missed.
Prayers for her family.
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