Edward Lawrence Winn Jr. (August 22, 1919 – December 31, 2017) was an American politician and member of the

U.S. 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 chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

representing Kansas's 3rd district from 1967 to 1985. He was a member of the Republican Party. Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Winn participated in athletics at Southwest High School before losing one of his legs in a boating accident at Lake Lotawana when he was sixteen. He earned a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

in journalism from

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. T ...

in 1941. After graduating, Winn worked for a Kansas City radio station for two years and, during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, worked for North American Aviation at

Fairfax Field Fairfax Field was a wartime (WWII) facility of the United States Army Air Forces and later, the United States Air Force. The installation was north of Kansas City, Kansas. Used as a pre-war Naval Air Station, the United States Army Air Forces ...

, north of

Kansas City, Kansas Kansas City, abbreviated as "KCK", is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas, and the county seat of Wyandotte County. It is an inner suburb of the older and more populous Kansas City, Missouri, after which it is named. As of ...

, where the B-25 Mitchell bomber was manufactured. He then pursued a career in home building and was vice president of the Winn-Rau Corporation from 1950 until his election to Congress. Additionally, he was a director of the

National Association of Home Builders The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) is one of the largest trade associations in the United States, representing the interests of home builders, developers, contractors, and associated businesses. NAHB is headquartered in Washington, ...

for fourteen years and was president of the Home Builders Association of Kansas.Kansapedia-Kansas State Historical Society-Edward Lawrence Winn, Jr.
/ref> Winn was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives as a Republican from the Wyandotte and Johnson Counties-based 3rd congressional district in 1966, succeeding three-term congressman

Robert Ellsworth Robert Fred Ellsworth (June 11, 1926 – May 9, 2011) was an American legislator and diplomat. He served as the United States Permanent Representative to NATO (an ambassadorial-level appointment) between 1969 and 1971. He had previously served t ...

, and would be reelected eight more times until his retirement in 1984. During his tenure, he served on the

House Committee on Foreign Affairs The United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs, also known as the House Foreign Affairs Committee, is a standing committee of the U.S. House of Representatives with jurisdiction over bills and investigations concerning the foreign affairs o ...

and was a congressional representative to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

. He was succeeded by fellow Republican Jan Meyers. Winn met his wife, Joan Elliott, while attending college and the two would be married for seventy-three years until her death in 2015. Together, they had five children; the death of their son Robert in 1983 played a part in the senior Winn's decision to retire from Congress. He lived in Prairie Village until his death on December 31, 2017, at age 98.

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1919 births 2017 deaths American amputees American construction businesspeople American politicians with disabilities Businesspeople from Kansas Businesspeople from Kansas City, Missouri People from Prairie Village, Kansas Politicians from Kansas City, Missouri University of Kansas alumni Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Kansas 20th-century American businesspeople {{Kansas-politician-stub