John Thomas Myers (February 8, 1927 – January 27, 2015) was an American politician who served as a Republican congressman from Indiana's 7th congressional district in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

from 1967 to 1997. His son-in-law,

Brian D. Kerns Brian Douglas Kerns (born May 22, 1957) is an American politician. He served as a Republican Representative from Indiana's 7th Congressional District from January 3, 2001 to January 3, 2003. Kerns was born in Terre Haute, Indiana. He has both ...

, represented the same district from 2001 to 2003. Myers was married and had two daughters and five grandchildren.

Life and career

Born in Covington, Indiana, Myers graduated from Covington High School in 1945 and earned his

B.S. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

at Indiana State University in 1951. He also attended

Eastern Illinois University Eastern Illinois University is a public university in Charleston, Illinois. Established in 1895 as the Eastern Illinois State Normal School, a teacher's college offering a two-year degree, Eastern Illinois University gradually expanded into a co ...

where he was a member of the

Sigma Pi Sigma Pi () is a collegiate fraternity with 233 chapters at American universities. As of 2021, the fraternity had more than 5,000 undergraduate members and over 110,000 alumni. Sigma Pi headquarters are in Nashville, Tennessee. The fraternity ...

fraternity. Myers served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

from 1945 to 1946, was a cashier and trust officer with the Fountain Trust Company from 1952 to 1966 and worked as a farmer in Fountain County. He was first elected to congress in 1966 and was re-elected fourteen more times, serving from 1967 until his retirement in 1997. Although he was the ranking Republican on the

United States House Committee on Appropriations The United States House Committee on Appropriations is a committee of the United States House of Representatives that is responsible for passing appropriation bills along with its Senate counterpart. The bills passed by the Appropriations Commi ...

, after the Republicans took control of the House in 1994, Myers was passed over for the position by new House Speaker

Newt Gingrich Newton Leroy Gingrich (; né McPherson; born June 17, 1943) is an American politician and author who served as the 50th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1995 to 1999. A member of the Republican Party, he was the U ...

, giving the post to Bob Livingston. Myers died at his home in Covington, Indiana on January 27, 2015, at the age of 87.

Memorialization

A pedestrian bridge connecting nearby cities Lafayette and

West Lafayette West Lafayette () is a city in Wabash Township, Tippecanoe County, Indiana, United States, about northwest of the state capital of Indianapolis and southeast of Chicago. West Lafayette is directly across the Wabash River from its sister c ...

in Tippecanoe County is named after Myers and opened in 1993. A technology center is named for Myers at Indiana State University in Terre Haute, Indiana. A

lock and dam Lock(s) may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainment * ''Lock ...

on the Ohio River are named for Myers.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Myers, John T. 1927 births 2015 deaths Farmers from Indiana Eastern Illinois University alumni Indiana State University alumni United States Army soldiers People from Covington, Indiana Businesspeople from Indiana 20th-century American politicians 20th-century American businesspeople Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Indiana