CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Political friends and foes came together Monday in agreement that they had been blessed to have former congressman and Secretary of State Ken Hechler in their lives.
Hechler, who died Dec. 10 at age 102 was a student, a teacher, soldier, historian, presidential advisor and speechwriter, politician, self-proclaimed “hellraiser,” and, in the last years of his life, a married man.
“Someone who has lived a life full of such history, such color, such compassion — it is difficult to find words worthy of honoring that life,” said Governor Earl Ray Tomblin, a Democrat.
Hechler’s memorial service took place at the Culture Center at the state Capitol, where he was remembered by 14 distinguished West Virginians who remembered him from various phases of his life.
Tomblin, himself a lifelong West Virginia political figure, remembered meeting Hechler when he was just a boy.
“Growing up in Chapmanville, every Sunday my family would gather at my grandfather’s house at the head of Henderson Branch and the head of Harts Creek,” Tomblin recalled. “And I remember vividly one Sunday when I was about 10 years old, we saw a bright red Jeep, coming off the hill from Mingo County and through the gate to my grandfather’s house. Ken Hechler, who was home from Washington, making the rounds to meet his constituents.
“Years later, as a high school student, when Ken was still a congressman, I got to participate in a program he created for high school students in his district to visit Washington, D.C., and that was the very first time I saw our nation’s Capitol and met many of our nation’s leaders. I’ll tell ya that was pretty impressive for a 17-year-old boy from Chapmanville.”
Senator Shelley Moore Capito, a Republican, also remembered meeting Hechler when she was a girl. Her father, former Republican Governor Arch Moore, served 14 years in Congress as Hechler’s peer. She recalled that the two had a lot in common, despite their political differences. Besides serving in Congress, they both had been World War II veterans.
Capito noted that while Hechler was the force behind the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act, her father as governor signed a bill designating black lung as a coal mining disease.
“We will always be grateful for his service,” Capito said of Hechler.
Secretary of State Natalie Tennant, who ran against Capito for Senate in 2014 and against Hechler for Secretary of State in 2004, spoke about Hechler’s influence on her life and career.
“He invested in the young people for the future. He invested in the future by offering opportunities for them,” Tennant said. “That’s how I got him and that’s how he got me. Because in the summer of 1990 as a college student, my opportunity was being able to run Ken Hechler’s week in state government program. It gave college students the opportunity to spend a week in Charleston to learn about state government, to visit with elected officials and to learn about the process. It was free to them because Ken paid for it himself.”
Senator Joe Manchin, a Democrat who found himself challenged by then 95-year-old Hechler in 2010 for a special U.S. Senate race, described how Hechler liked to debate.
“Ken liked to debate me. He had a lot of fun with that. We’d get into some good discussions. It was such a professional and friendly discourse we would have. Our differences would be so respectful we couldn’t tell they were different at the end. We didn’t always agree, but we always agreed to be friends. We respected each other, and I think that’s what’s missing so much in the political arena today.”
Charlotte Pritt, a former state Senator who defeated Manchin in the 1996 Democratic primary for governor, spoke of Hechler as a mentor. She said they marched together against mountaintop removal coal mining when Hechler was in his 90s.
“The fact was, he mentored so many of us,” Pritt said. “He really was a valuable gift.”
In an interview before the service began, Pritt described the ways she valued Hechler’s friendship.
“Ken could inject joy in the most serious situations,” Pritt said. “Shortly before he died, I had the most wonderful conversation about some of the things we had done. He loved the people of West Virginia so much.”
Darrell McGraw, a Democrat who served as state Supreme Court justice and as Attorney General, also called Hechler a mentor.
John Yoder was a young Republican state Senator when he first came to know Hechler. The Secretary of State would strike up conversations with him. Some people, Yoder recalled, would ask him why he liked Hechler, who was of a very different political persuasion.
“Because he’s fair and honest,” Yoder recalled responding. “That’s all I can ask of any politician.”
Hechler spent his last few years in the Eastern Panhandle, where Yoder is now a judge. Yoder was a dinner guest in Hechler’s home the night that Hechler later died.
“Heaven has gained a saint and we have lost one,” Yoder said. “I hope he will petition God for more people like him.”
Some quirky memories were shared, too:
— That as a congressman, Hechler was likely to pull up in his red Jeep at a shopping center and pull out a table and three chairs and a sign that said “Your servant in Congress. Let’s talk.”
— While he was in Congress his mother fell ill. Hechler’s brother called, saying he needed to be found immediately. This was before cell phones. His congressional staffer, Judy Deegans, didn’t know what to do. So she called the State Police, who put out an all points bulletin for his red Jeep. Hechler was found and went to his mother’s side but never spoke of it to Deegans.
— He was opinionated about written communication, Deegans said. He said you should write a letter as you speak. That meant outlawing phrases like “to be of assistance.” Why say that when a simple offer of help would do?
— As Secretary of State, Hechler didn’t keep an office but maintained a desk in the hallway. He would also take his own oranges for lunch but would pay the cafeteria staff for their work.
— In the weeks leading up to his death, Hechler had conversations about his memorial services, the Rev. Cecil Jividen said. Hechler was asked what he wanted to wear and said he would like to be in his West Virginia tie and his military uniform. Told that those two elements of clothing don’t match, Hechler was insistent: “It’s always been West Virginia.”
The ceremony ended with a version of “Country Roads” and with an honor guard ceremony.
Hechler will be laid to rest in Branch Mountain United Methodist Church Cemetery in Three Churches, West Virginia.
Here is another look back at Ken Hechler’s life: