Lola Spradley (born June 28, 1946) is an American politician from

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

. She served as Speaker of the

Colorado House of Representatives The Colorado House of Representatives is the lower house of the Colorado General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Colorado. The House is composed of 65 members from an equal number of constituent districts, with each distr ...

from 2003 to 2005, the first woman elected to the position.

Early life

Born Lola Fox in

Burlington, Colorado Burlington is a home rule municipality and the county seat and most populous community of Kit Carson County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 3,172 at the 2020 United States Census. History Burlington was originally laid out on ...

, she was brought up along with her six brothers and sisters on a farm near

Raymer, Colorado The Town of Raymer is a Statutory Town located in Weld County, Colorado, United States. The population was 96 at the U.S. Census 2010. The community has two official names: *Raymer - The legal name of the incorporated Town of Raymer. *New Raym ...

. She graduated from

Fort Morgan High School Fort Morgan High School is a public high school located in Fort Morgan, Colorado, United States, in Morgan County. It is one of two public high school's located in the town along with Lincoln High School. History The school was established in t ...

in 1964 and then had a 29-year career with

AT&T AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest provider of mobile tel ...

, starting as an operator and retiring as an assistant vice president.

Colorado House of Representatives career

In September 1997, a vacancy committee appointed Spradley, who then resided in Beulah, to represent House District 44 (

Custer George Armstrong Custer (December 5, 1839 – June 25, 1876) was a United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the American Indian Wars. Custer graduated from West Point in 1861 at the bottom of his class, b ...

, Fremont,

Pueblo In the Southwestern United States, Pueblo (capitalized) refers to the Native tribes of Puebloans having fixed-location communities with permanent buildings which also are called pueblos (lowercased). The Spanish explorers of northern New Spain ...

, and Teller counties) in the

following the resignation of

Larry Schwarz Larry Schwarz (born January 20, 1970) is an American animation producer, entrepreneur, writer, and photographer. He was the founder and CEO of now-defunct cartoon studio Animation Collective. He is best known for creating ''Kappa Mikey''. Early li ...

. She was later elected to represent the district in 1998 and re-elected in 2000. Following

reapportionment Apportionment is the process by which seats in a legislative body are distributed among administrative divisions, such as states or parties, entitled to representation. This page presents the general principles and issues related to apportionme ...

in 2002, she was elected to represent House District 60. During her time in the Colorado House of Representatives, Spradley, a Republican, held three leadership positions: Assistant Majority Leader,

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

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 ...

. She also served on the Executive Committee of Legislative Council and on the Legislative Council itself.

Life after the Colorado State House

After serving in the House of Representatives, Spradley and her husband retired to Huerfano County. She volunteers on boards and commissions, such as the Huerfano County Historical Society board and the 3rd Judicial District Performance Commission, to which she was appointed by the governor. She also serves on the Huerfano County Economic Development Board of Directors, and in 2018 Spradley was elected to serve on the Board of Directors of the Huerfano County Hospital District, which operates the

Spanish Peaks Regional Health Center The Spanish Peaks Regional Health Center is a regional hospital near Walsenburg, Colorado. Founded in 1993, the medical center currently has 20 licensed beds. The health center also operates the 120-bed Spanish Peaks Veterans Community Living Ce ...

west of

Walsenburg The City of Walsenburg is the Statutory City that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Huerfano County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 3,049 at the 2020 census, down from 3,068 in 2010. History Walsenbur ...

References

1946 births Living people Regis University alumni Women state legislators in Colorado 20th-century American politicians 20th-century American women politicians 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians Speakers of the Colorado House of Representatives Republican Party members of the Colorado House of Representatives Women legislative speakers {{Colorado-politician-stub

Early life

Colorado House of Representatives career

Life after the Colorado State House

See also

References