Thyra Kay Stevenson (September 4, 1944 – May 11, 2020) was an American politician from Idaho. She was a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

member of

Idaho House of Representatives The Idaho House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the Idaho State Legislature. It consists of 70 representatives elected to two-year terms. The state is divided into 35 districts, each of which elects two representatives to separate se ...

from District 6 in the A seat, dying in office.

Early life and education

Stevenson was born in

Palo Alto, California Palo Alto (; Spanish for "tall stick") is a charter city in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. The city was es ...

, and moved to Lewiston, Idaho, with her family at the age of 13 when her father accepted a job with

PotlatchDeltic PotlatchDeltic Corporation (originally Potlatch Corp) is an American diversified forest products company based in Spokane, Washington. It manufactures and sells lumber, panels and particleboard and receives revenue from other assets such as miner ...

. She graduated from Lewiston High School as her class's valedictorian in 1962. Stevenson earned a Bachelor of Arts degree English and another in Spanish from

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with ...

. She earned a certificate in Spanish from the New York University of Madrid in Spain, a Master of Arts in

Spanish literature Spanish literature generally refers to literature ( Spanish poetry, prose, and drama) written in the Spanish language within the territory that presently constitutes the Kingdom of Spain. Its development coincides and frequently intersects wi ...

from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

, and a PhD in

Latin American literature Latin American literature consists of the oral and written literature of Latin America in several languages, particularly in Spanish, Portuguese, and the indigenous languages of the Americas. It rose to particular prominence globally during the ...

from the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattl ...

Career

Stevenson began flying when she was a child. As an experienced pilot, she flew planes such as DC-3s, Convairs,

Boeing 727 The Boeing 727 is an American narrow-body airliner that was developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. After the heavy 707 quad-jet was introduced in 1958, Boeing addressed the demand for shorter flight lengths from smaller airpo ...

cargo and passenger planes. Stevenson served in the military as an aircraft commander, Flotilla commander, and pilot instructor in the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mu ...

. Stevenson was also a chief information officer in the AuxAir Squadron. She was a professor of Spanish at

. On November 6, 2012, Stevenson won the election and became a Republican member of

for District 6 seat A. Stevenson defeated Pete Gertonson with 54.2% of the votes. On November 4, 2014, Stevenson was defeated by Dan Rudolf with 49.9% of the votes. On November 8, 2016, Stevenson was re-elected to her old seat in the

. Stevenson defeated Bob Blakely with 56.55% of the votes. Stevenson was the vice-chair of the Revenue and Taxation Committee. She died of heart problems while in office and Republican Governor

Brad Little Bradley Jay Little (born February 15, 1954) is an American politician serving as the 33rd governor of Idaho since January 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 42nd lieutenant governor of Idaho from 2009 to 2019 and as an Idah ...

appointed Aaron von Ehlinger to the remainder of her term.

Elections

Personal life and death

In 1978, Stevenson married Walter Noel Greenham (1941–2015), a Navy veteran and computer engineer. She had five children. Stevenson lived in California, until returning to Lewiston, Idaho after retirement. Stevenson served on the Lewiston City Council. Stevenson died on May 11, 2020, at age 75, from complications of a heart attack she suffered a week prior.

References

External links

Thyra Stevenson
at the

Idaho Legislature The Idaho Legislature consists of the upper Idaho Senate and the lower Idaho House of Representatives. Idaho is divided into 35 legislative districts, which each elect one senator and two representatives. There are no term limits for either ...

Thyra Stevenson's Campaign site

Biography at Ballotpedia

Financial information (state office)
at the National Institute for Money in State Politics
Thyra Stevenson at nezperceswcd.org

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stevenson, Thyra K 1944 births 2020 deaths 21st-century American women politicians Boston University College of Arts and Sciences alumni Female United States Coast Guard personnel Women military aviators Idaho city council members Republican Party members of the Idaho House of Representatives Aviators from California Military personnel from California New York University alumni People from Lewiston, Idaho People from Palo Alto, California University of Washington alumni Women state legislators in Idaho 21st-century American politicians Women city councillors in Idaho