DE
DefZone.Net

Inovation & Exploration

Wiki Article

Bill Hefner

Nguồn dữ liệu từ Wikipedia, hiển thị bởi DefZone.Net

Xem trên WikipediaBài ngẫu nhiên khác

Bill Hefner
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from North Carolina's 8th district
In office
January 3, 1975 – January 3, 1999
Preceded byEarl B. Ruth
Succeeded byRobin Hayes
Personal details
BornWillie Gathrel Hefner
(1930-04-11)April 11, 1930
Elora, Tennessee, U.S.
DiedSeptember 2, 2009(2009-09-02) (aged 79)
Huntsville, Alabama, U.S.
PartyDemocratic
SpouseNancy Hefner
EducationUniversity of Alabama, Tuscaloosa

Willie Gathrel Hefner (April 11, 1930 – September 2, 2009), was an American radio personality and Democratic U.S. congressman from North Carolina, serving between 1975 and 1999.

Life and career

[edit | edit source]

Born in Elora, Tennessee, Hefner graduated from high school in Sardis, Alabama. He attended the University of Alabama, and he became the president and owner of radio station WRKB in Kannapolis, North Carolina. He was a member of the Harvesters Quartet, a group of gospel music singers based in North Carolina, from 1954 to 1967, and was a television performer on numerous North Carolina TV channels.

In 1974, he was elected as a Democrat to the 94th United States Congress; he served a total of 12 terms, from January 3, 1975, until January 3, 1999, when he retired from Congress.

Hefner sat on the House Appropriations Committee and chaired its Subcommittee on Military Construction in the 102nd and 103rd Congresses.[1][2] After Republicans won control of the House in the 1994 elections, he became the subcommittee's ranking minority member, a post he held through his final term.[3][4] The subcommittee had jurisdiction over most construction on U.S. military bases, and in both roles Hefner pushed for funding at Fort Bragg in North Carolina.[5] When a Republican colleague proposed renaming a road at the post in his honor, Hefner asked that it not be done; All American Parkway had been named for the 82nd Airborne Division, and he wanted it left that way.[6]

Hefner built a reputation as an advocate for veterans, and the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Salisbury, North Carolina, was renamed in his honor on April 16, 1999.[7]

After retiring from Congress, Hefner moved with his wife, Nancy, to Alabama. He served from October 2001 until November 2002 as the District One commissioner for Marshall County, Alabama. He died in Huntsville, Alabama, on September 2, 2009, after suffering a brain aneurysm.[8]

References

[edit | edit source]
  1. ^ Official Congressional Directory, 102d Congress. U.S. Government Printing Office. May 9, 1991. p. 238. Retrieved September 10, 2026 – via govinfo.
  2. ^ Official Congressional Directory, 103d Congress. U.S. Government Printing Office. June 25, 1993. Retrieved September 10, 2026 – via govinfo.
  3. ^ Official Congressional Directory, 104th Congress. U.S. Government Printing Office. May 5, 1995. p. 390. Retrieved September 10, 2026 – via govinfo.
  4. ^ Military Construction Appropriations for 1998: Hearings Before a Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations, House of Representatives, One Hundred Fifth Congress, First Session. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1997. Retrieved September 10, 2026 – via govinfo.
  5. ^ "Passings: Bill Hefner". Los Angeles Times. September 4, 2009. Retrieved September 10, 2026.
  6. ^ Jenkins, Scott (December 1, 2009). "Longtime lawmaker Bill Hefner dies at age 79". Salisbury Post. Retrieved September 10, 2026.
  7. ^ Wineka, Mark (April 15, 1999). "VA facility to be renamed for Rep. Hefner". Salisbury Post. Archived from the original on July 6, 2008. Retrieved April 20, 2012.
  8. ^ "Former Congressman Bill Hefner dies at 79". The Fayetteville Observer. 2009-09-03.

There is an elementary school named after Bill Hefner in Fayetteville, North Carolina. The school is in the city limits but sits on the edge of Ft. Bragg. The school serves students in prek-5th grade. Currently, as of 2022 the school is run by Dr. Donald Cahill and Jessica Cashwell.

[edit | edit source]