Aubrey W. Dirlam (October 20, 1913 – June 3, 1995) was a

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

politician and a former member of the

Minnesota House of Representatives The Minnesota House of Representatives is the lower house of the Legislature of the U.S. state of Minnesota. There are 134 members, twice as many as the Minnesota Senate. Floor sessions are held in the north wing of the State Capitol in Saint Pa ...

who represented the old District 14, District 17, District 17A, and District 21B, which included all or portions of

Brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing or painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors orange and black. In the RGB color model used ...

, Kandiyohi,

Redwood Sequoioideae, popularly known as redwoods, is a subfamily of coniferous trees within the family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affini ...

Renville Renville may refer to: ;Places In the United States: * Renville, Minnesota * Renville County, Minnesota * Renville County, North Dakota ;People *Joseph Renville *Gabriel Renville Gabriel Renville (April 1825 – August 26, 1892), also known a ...

and

Yellow Medicine Yellow is the color between green and orange on the spectrum of light. It is evoked by light with a dominant wavelength of roughly 575585 nm. It is a primary color in subtractive color systems, used in painting or color printing. In the RG ...

counties in the southwestern part of the state. The district number and boundaries changed through the years due to

redistricting Redistribution (re-districting in the United States and in the Philippines) is the process by which electoral districts are added, removed, or otherwise changed. Redistribution is a form of boundary delimitation that changes electoral dist ...

House service and leadership

First elected in 1940, Dirlam was re-elected every two years until he retired in 1975. During his 34 years in the House, he served as

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** In ...

Majority Leader In U.S. politics (as well as in some other countries utilizing the presidential system), the majority floor leader is a partisan position in a legislative body.

and Minority Leader. He was a member of the Legislature at a time when candidates, representatives and leadership positions were officially non-partisan. He allied with the House's Conservative

Caucus A caucus is a meeting of supporters or members of a specific political party or movement. The exact definition varies between different countries and political cultures. The term originated in the United States, where it can refer to a meeting ...

, and was known to be a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

. Dirlam originally sought the House speakership in 1963, but lost the contest by one vote to

Lloyd Duxbury Lloyd L. Duxbury, Jr. (February 1, 1922 – March 23, 2002) was a Minnesota politician and member of the Minnesota House of Representatives representing the old districts 1 and 1B, which included all or portions of Houston and Winona counties in ...

, accepting the majority leader position in compensation. He later succeeded Duxbury as Speaker in 1971 and was the last officially nonpartisan Speaker. He had occasion to preside over the longest special session in state history (159 calendar days) that same year after Governor Wendell Anderson called the Legislature back to

Saint Paul Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...

. After a series of meetings with the governor and Senate Majority Leader

Stanley Holmquist Stanley W. Holmquist (August 23, 1909 – May 15, 2003) was an American businessman and educator. He served in the Minnesota House of Representatives and was a former Minnesota Senate Majority Leader. Background Holmquist was born in Hallock, M ...

, they were able to craft the "Minnesota Miracle," which set a new pattern in the state's financing of education. Dirlam served as chair of the Agriculture Committee from 1949 to 1955, and as chair of the Rules Committee from 1963 to 1971. He was also a member of the Education, Governmental Operations, Rules and Legislative Administration, and Taxes committees.

Background and later years

Born in

Panora, Iowa Panora is a city in Guthrie County, Iowa. The population was 1,091 at the time of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. It is part of the Des Moines metropolitan area. History Panora was platted in 1851. 2014 Mother's Day tornado Just bef ...

, Dirlam moved with his family to the

Redwood Falls, Minnesota Redwood Falls is a city in Redwood County, located along the Redwood River near its confluence with the Minnesota River, in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The population was 5,102 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat. History As the immigr ...

area in 1919, where they farmed. In addition to being a lifelong grain and livestock farmer, he and his family were also involved with a meat and locker business. He also served on the Redwood Falls School Board. In 1981, Governor Al Quie appointed Dirlam to serve on the Minnesota Board of Residential Utility Consumers, a position he held until 1985. He died in 1995 and was buried in Redwood Falls Cemetery.

References

External links

"Tribune of the people: the Minnesota Legislature and its leadership" – Aubrey Dirlam
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dirlam, A.W. 1913 births 1995 deaths People from Panora, Iowa People from Redwood Falls, Minnesota Farmers from Minnesota School board members in Minnesota Speakers of the Minnesota House of Representatives Republican Party members of the Minnesota House of Representatives 20th-century American politicians