Leo Elthon

Leo Hobson Elthon (June 9, 1898 – April 16, 1967) was the 32nd Governor of Iowa from November 21, 1954 to January 13, 1955. Elthon had been elected the Lieutenant Governor of Iowa in November 1952, and filled the unexpired term of Governor William S. Beardsley, who died in office.^[1][2][3]

Leo Elthon
32nd Governor of Iowa
In office November 21, 1954 – January 13, 1955
Lieutenant	None
Preceded by	William S. Beardsley
Succeeded by	Leo Hoegh
Lieutenant Governor of Iowa
In office 1953–1957
Governor	William S. Beardsley Leo Hoegh
Preceded by	William H. Nicholas
Succeeded by	William H. Nicholas
Member of the Iowa State Senate
In office 1963–1965
In office 1933–1953
Personal details
Born	Leo Elthon (1898-06-09)June 9, 1898 Fertile, Iowa, U.S.
Died	April 16, 1967(1967-04-16) (aged 68) Fertile, Iowa, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Synneva Hjelmeland ​ ​ (m. 1922; died 1963)​
Children	6
Education	Augsburg Seminary Iowa State University Hamilton College

Biography

Elthon was born in Fertile, Iowa in 1898, to Andrew Anderson Elthon and Olena Petrina (née Ouverson) Elthon.^[1][2][4][5] His father was born in Vang, Norway and his mother's parents had emigrated from Norway as well.

Elthon attended the Augsburg Seminary at the Iowa State Teachers College, Iowa State University, and Hamilton College.^[1][2][4][5] He became a schoolteacher at Manual Training and Athletics in Clear Lake and school principal at Fertile High School in Fertile.^[1][2][4]

He married on Synneva Hjelmeland on February 28, 1922 and had 6 children.^[2][4][5] Her father was Reverend Rasmus O. Hjelmeland who emigrated from Norway with his with wife Anne.

Political Career

Iowa Senate

He was first elected in the Iowa Senate in 1932 and served from 1933 to 1953, representing Howard County, Mitchell County and Worth County.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]}

Lieutenant Governor and Governor

He was elected as lieutenant governor in 1952.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]}

He assumed the Governorship upon the death of Governor Beardsley, in a auto accident, in November 1954.^{[1][2][3][4][6][5]} He held the governorship until Governor-elect and then current Iowa Attorney General Leo Hoegh took office in January 1955.^[1][2][3] He is the only Governor to rise to be Governor upon the death of the previous Governor.^[3]

In his less than 3 months in office, he commuted 17 life sentences, following a policy that Governor Beardsley would have enacted.^[3] He also delivered the State of the State address, asking for more money for unemployment insurance, schools, roads, and workers compensation.unemployment insurance and workers compensation

He then continued serving as Lieutenant Governor under Governor Hoegh until 1957.^[1][2][3]

Post Gubernatorial Years

He then served as mayor of Fertile, Iowa, 1958 to 1963 and again in the state Senate, 1963 to 1965.^{[1][2][3][4][5] [6]}

Later Life

Synneva died in 1963.^[2] In 1964, Elthon suffered a heart attack, worsening his health for the last 4 years of his life.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} Elthon died in 1967 in Mason City, Iowa of Colon Cancer and was interred at Brushpoint cemetery in Fertile.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]}