NOTEWORTHY DEATH

OKLAHOMA CITY — First GOP governor of Oklahoma

Henry Louis Bellmon, who in 1963 became Oklahoma's first GOP governor since statehood and is known as the father of the state's modern Republican Party, died Tuesday. He was 88.

Bellmon, who also served two terms in the U.S. Senate, died shortly before 11 a.m. after a long battle with Parkinson's disease, said Andrew Tevington, Bellmon's former chief of staff and general counsel. Bellmon died at St. Mary's Mercy Hospital in Enid, where he had been hospitalized since Sunday morning, he said.

Bellmon served two nonconsecutive terms as governor, one that began in 1963 and one that started in 1987. As the state's first GOP governor, Bellmon was credited with making the party a viable force in state politics.

In 1967, he served as national chairman of the Nixon for President campaign.Bellmon then went on to win election to the U.S. Senate in 1968 and again in 1974.

"He was a man of honor," said Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla."Even if you disagreed with some of his positions, you had to respect and love him for his strong character and because he always did what he felt was the right thing to do."

Bellmon was born Sept. 3, 1921, in Tonkawa. He attended Colorado State University and later transferred to Oklahoma A&M College, which became Oklahoma State University.

He served with the U.S. Marine Corps from 1942 to 1946, receiving the Silver Star for action on Saipan and the Legion of Merit for action on Iwo Jima.