Berkley Bedell
| Berkley Bedell | |
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Berkley Bedell circa 1975
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| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Iowa's 6th district |
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In office January 3, 1975 – January 3, 1987 |
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| Preceded by | Wiley Mayne |
| Succeeded by | Fred Grandy |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
March 5, 1921 Spirit Lake, Iowa |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Elinor Healy Bedell, Grand Marais, MN |
| Children | Kenneth, 1947; Thomas, 1950; Joanne, 1952 |
| Profession | Activist |
| Religion | Methodist |
Berkley Warren Bedell (born March 5, 1921) is a former U.S. Representative from Iowa. After starting a successful business in his youth, Berkley Fly Co., he ran for the United States Congress in 1972, but was defeated by incumbent Wiley Mayne. In 1974, however, Bedell beat Wiley Mayne and was elected to Congress.
He was known for his support of representative democracy and his populist style. For example, he would hold town halls and let constituents vote on motions to decide what he would do in Congress on their behalf. These meetings helped Bedell understand the problems of his constituents; as a result, he backed issues that were important to his farming constituency, such as waterway usage fees and production constraints.
He did not seek reelection in 1986 after contracting Lyme disease from a tick bite. Though he no longer serves in Congress, Bedell remains active in Iowa politics, strongly supporting Howard Dean in 2004 over John Kerry. In the 2008 presidential election, he met several times with Chris Dodd, but endorsed Barack Obama in the end.
Born in Spirit Lake, Iowa, Bedell was educated in Spirit Lake public schools. He graduated from Spirit Lake High School in 1939, where he earned spending money with a business in the midst of the Great Depression. His business involved braiding dog hairs around fishhooks, the result of which could be sold as fish flies. He began tying the fly-fishing lures in his bedroom, then he moved the business into his parents' basement. In time, he got space above a grocery store to continue the business full-time.
After graduating from high school, he attended Iowa State University from 1940 to 1942, where he met fellow ISU student Elinor Healy from Grand Marais, Minnesota. Berkley and Elinor married in Minneapolis on August 29, 1943 and their son Kenneth was born in 1947, Thomas in 1950 and daughter Joanne in 1952. Berkley’s college and personal life was interrupted in 1942 when he joined the army. He served in the United States Army as first lieutenant and flight trainer from 1942 to 1945. When he got back, he began to garner success from his fish tackling business. His business became larger, with hundreds of employees and international operations; he had become a millionaire by the 1960s. He served as member of the Spirit Lake Board of Education from 1957 to 1962.
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