Gene C. Howard (September 26, 1926 – November 14, 2021) was an American politician in the state of

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

Biography

Howard was born in 1926 in

Perry, Oklahoma Perry is a city in, and county seat of, Noble County, Oklahoma, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 5,126, a 2.0 percent decrease from the figure of 5,230 in 2000. The city is home of Ditch Witch construction equipment. ...

. He attended the University of Oklahoma, receiving a Bachelor of Laws degree in 1951, and is an attorney. He is also a veteran of World War II, serving in the United States Army in the

Pacific Theater The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

. He is married to Belva J. Prestidge; with her he has one child. Howard was elected to the

Oklahoma House of Representatives The Oklahoma House of Representatives is the lower house of the legislature of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Its members introduce and vote on bills and resolutions, provide legislative oversight for state agencies, and help to craft the state's b ...

as a Democrat in 1959 and served until 1963. Two years later, Howard was elected to serve in

Oklahoma State Senate The Oklahoma Senate is the upper house of the two houses of the Legislature of Oklahoma, the other being the Oklahoma House of Representatives. The total number of senators is set at 48 by the Oklahoma Constitution.president pro tempore A president pro tempore or speaker pro tempore is a constitutionally recognized officer of a legislative body who presides over the chamber in the absence of the normal presiding officer. The phrase ''pro tempore'' is Latin "for the time being". ...

of the Senate from 1975 to 1981. Howard died on November 14, 2021, at his home in Oklahoma City.

References

1926 births 2021 deaths People from Perry, Oklahoma Democratic Party members of the Oklahoma House of Representatives University of Oklahoma alumni Democratic Party Oklahoma state senators United States Army personnel of World War II 20th-century members of the Oklahoma House of Representatives {{Oklahoma-politician-stub