Ronald Eugene "Ron" Raikes (March 11, 1943 – September 5, 2009) was a farmer and former

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

state senator from

Lincoln, Nebraska Lincoln is the capital city of the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Lancaster County. The city covers with a population of 292,657 in 2021. It is the second-most populous city in Nebraska and the 73rd-largest in the United Sta ...

in the

Nebraska Legislature The Nebraska Legislature (also called the Unicameral) is the legislature of the U.S. state of Nebraska. The Legislature meets at the Nebraska State Capitol in Lincoln. With 49 members, known as "senators", the Nebraska Legislature is the small ...

Personal life

He was born on March 11, 1943, in

and graduated from Ashland High School. He was a member of FarmHouse Fraternity ('62) and graduated from

Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the n ...

in farm operations,

University of California-Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a public land-grant research university near Davis, California. Named a Public Ivy, it is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The institut ...

with a master's in agriculture business management and a Ph.D. in agriculture economics. He is a former member of the Nebraska Economic Forecasting Advisory Board and current member of the Nebraska Farm Business Association, Nebraska Agriculture Relations Council, Nebraska Land Improvement Contractors Association, and Agriculture Builders of Nebraska.

State legislature

He was appointed to the legislature on May 15, 1997 to replace

Jerome Warner Phillip Jerome Warner (November 23, 1927 – April 20, 1997) was a farmer and politician in the U.S. state of Nebraska. He served as a state senator from Waverly, Nebraska in the Nebraska Legislature. His father, Charles J. Warner, served ...

, who had died. He was elected in 1998 to represent the 25th Nebraska legislative district and reelected in 2000 and 2004. He chaired the Education committee, sat on the Revenue committee, the Education Commission of the States, and

Midwestern Higher Education Compact The Midwestern Higher Education Compact (MHEC) is a regional interstate compact devoted to advancing cooperation and resource sharing in higher education. The member states of the Compact are Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Michigan, Mi ...

Death

Raikes was found under a piece of farming equipment, believed to be a hay grinder, at 10:36 PM on September 5, 2009 in

Ashland, Nebraska Ashland is a city in Saunders County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 2,453 at the 2010 census. History Ashland is located at the site of a low-water limestone ledge along the bottom of Salt Creek, an otherwise mud-bottomed stream ...

. He was pronounced dead on the scene at 11:07 PM. His death was described as an accident and the Saunders County Attorney ordered an autopsy on his body."Former Nebraska state Senator Raikes dead."
BNO News. September 6, 2009.

References

1943 births 2009 deaths Nebraska state senators Politicians from Lincoln, Nebraska Accidental deaths in Nebraska Farming accident deaths 20th-century American politicians University of California, Davis alumni People from Ashland, Nebraska {{Nebraska-stub

Personal life

State legislature

Death

See also

References