Willie Gathrel Hefner (April 11, 1930 – September 2, 2009), was a Democratic U.S. Congressman from

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

, serving between 1975 and 1999.

Life and career

Born in Elora, Tennessee, Hefner graduated from high school in Sardis, Alabama. He attended the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and largest of the publi ...

, and he became the president and owner of radio station

WRKB WRKB (1460 AM) is a radio station broadcasting a Southern Gospel format. Licensed to Kannapolis, North Carolina Kannapolis () is a city in Cabarrus and Rowan counties, in the U.S. state of North Carolina, northwest of Concord and northeas ...

Kannapolis, North Carolina Kannapolis () is a city in Cabarrus and Rowan counties, in the U.S. state of North Carolina, northwest of Concord and northeast of Charlotte and is a suburb in the Charlotte metropolitan area. The city of Kannapolis was incorporated in 1984. Th ...

. He was a member of the Harvesters Quartet, a group of gospel music singers based in North Carolina, from 1954 to 1967, and was a television performer on numerous North Carolina TV channels. In 1974, he was elected as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

to the

94th United States Congress The 94th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1975, ...

; he served a total of 12 terms, from January 3, 1975 until January 3, 1999, when he retired from Congress. Hefner built a reputation as an advocate for veterans, and the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Salisbury, North Carolina, was renamed in his honor on April 16, 1999. After retiring from Congress, Hefner moved with his wife, Nancy, to Alabama. He served from October 2001 until November 2002 as the District One commissioner for

Marshall County, Alabama Marshall County is a county of the state of Alabama, United States. As of the 2020 census the population was 97,612. Its county seat is Guntersville. A second courthouse is in Albertville. Its name is in honor of John Marshall, famous Chief ...

. He died in Huntsville, Alabama on September 2, 2009 after suffering a

brain aneurysm An intracranial aneurysm, also known as a brain aneurysm, is a cerebrovascular disorder in which weakness in the wall of a cerebral artery or vein causes a localized dilation or ballooning of the blood vessel. Aneurysms in the posterior circ ...

References

There is an elementary school named after Bill Hefener in Fayetteville, NC. The school is in the city limits but sits on the edge of Ft. Bragg. The schools serves students in prek-5th grade. Currently, as of 2022 the school is ran by Dr. Donald Cahill and Jessica Cashwell.

External links

* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Hefner, Bill 1930 births 2009 deaths 20th-century American politicians 20th-century American singers American gospel singers American entertainers Deaths from intracranial aneurysm Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from North Carolina People from Lincoln County, Tennessee Southern gospel performers University of Alabama alumni