SLANESVILLE, W.Va. — The oldest living person to have served in the United States Congress is having some health struggles, says Ken Hechler’s wife Carol.
“It’s not age related. He had some medical problems in September of last year,” Carol Hechler said of her 101-year-old husband. “Which has left him with recurring infections. They’ve just essentially taken their toll.”
Hechler represented West Virginia in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1959 to 1977 and was West Virginia Secretary of State from 1985 to 2001. Carol said he has good days and bad days.
“He’s been upbeat for the last few days. He has bouts where he’s perky, and then he’ll wear out for a day or two, and then he’ll be back to the usual Ken. Constant public servant wanting to talk all the time.”
Carol Hechler said her husband likes to have vistors and still has aspirations to travel, perhaps to the Virgin Islands. And he hasn’t lost his sense of humor.
“We have a running joke between us that says he’s going to outlive me,” she joked.
Hospice care has been good to Ken, and has allowed him to stay at home.
“I was always under the impression before that Hospice was an end of life thing, and although Ken’s not going to live forever, he can travel, he can do whatever he wants to on Hospice care,” Hechler said. “They’re here to keep him out of the hospital and keep him here at home where he wants to be.”
Hechler served during World War II, attached to the 9th Armored Division when one of its infantry-tank task forces captured the Ludendorff Bridge spanning the Rhine river at Remagen, Germany.
In 1957, he published a book The Bridge at Remagen, which was adapted into a film in 1969.
Hechler was assigned to interview many of the defendants prior to the Nuremberg Trials, including Hermann Göring, after the war.
Since 2004, Hechler has campaigned against mountaintop removal mining. On June 23, 2009, Hechler, then 94, participated in a protest near mountaintop removal mining sites in the Coal River Valley. He was one of 29 protesters arrested for trespass.
Hechler married Carol in Winchester, Va., in Aug. 2013 at the age of 98.