CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) - Former West Virginia secretary of state and congressman Ken Hechler still considers himself a public servant.
Hechler turns 100 years old on Saturday. He and his wife, Carol, will celebrate with friends and family at a private party in Romney on Sunday. Another celebration is scheduled for Sept. 27 at Marshall University’s Memorial Student Center.
Born in Roslyn, New York, and a 1935 graduate of Swarthmore College, Hechler’s political career spanned more than 40 years.
“It’s just always been my ambition,” Hechler told the Charleston Daily Mail (https://tinyurl.com/pdx8w75). “The Lord has been good to me and given me good health, a wonderful life and lots of good friends.”
Hechler was an Army combat historian during World War II. His assignments included interviewing such key Third Reich leaders as Alfred Jodl and Hermann Goering after the war’s end in Europe. He also wrote “The Bridge at Remagen,” a 1955 nonfiction best-seller about a key Allied victory later adapted as a Hollywood film.
He served in the Truman White House, writing speeches among other duties.
Hechler served in the U.S. House between 1959 and 1976 and was secretary of state from 1985 to 2001. A university professor earlier in life, Hechler resumed his teaching career after leaving office.
He was inducted into the West Virginia Labor Hall of Honor in 2006.
In 2010 the Democrat lost a bid for U.S. Senate after the death of Robert C. Byrd, running because he was opposed to the mountaintop removal method of mining. Even then he drove around the state campaigning in his ubiquitous red Jeep.
Hechler and his wife live in Slanesville in Hampshire County. They were married in August 2013.
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Information from: Charleston Daily Mail, https://www.charlestondailymail.com
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