Carl Beverly "Bev" Bledsoe (October 6, 1923 – June 5, 2012) was an American politician in the state of

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

, representing the Eastern Plains counties of Colorado in the state House of Representatives. He served as

Speaker of the Colorado House of Representatives The following is a list of speakers of the Colorado House of Representatives since statehood. Speakers of the Colorado House of Representatives Speakers of the Colorado Territorial House of Representatives References {{Reflist Colorado ...

from 1981 to 1991, making the longest tenured speaker ever in the state's history. Bledsoe was born on the Bledsoe Ranch, north of

Aroya, Colorado Aroya is an unincorporated community in Cheyenne County, Colorado, United States. It is located at the eastern end of State Highway 94 near its junction with U.S. Highway 40/ U.S. Highway 287. History The name Arroyo appears on some older ma ...

, to Carl and Josie Bledsoe. He attended public schools and graduated from Kit Carson High School. He attended the

University of Colorado Boulder The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University o ...

, he served in the United States Army in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, attaining the rank of sergeant. Upon his return, he studied for a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

degree in

animal husbandry Animal husbandry is the branch of agriculture concerned with animals that are raised for meat, animal fiber, fibre, milk, or other products. It includes day-to-day care, management, production, nutrition, selective breeding, and the raising ...

from

Colorado State University Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado, United States. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University Syst ...

and began ranching near Hugo. Prior to his election to the

Colorado House of Representatives The Colorado House of Representatives is the lower house of the Colorado General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Colorado. The House is composed of 65 members from an equal number of constituent districts, with each distri ...

in 1973, Bledsoe sat on and chaired many county political, school, and veterinarian committees. He served nine consecutive terms in the house and led the legislative audit and finance committees. He retired in 1991. He died at his home in Hugo in 2012 at the age of 88.

References

1923 births 2012 deaths Republican Party members of the Colorado House of Representatives Ranchers from Colorado People from Cheyenne County, Colorado People from Lincoln County, Colorado Speakers of the Colorado House of Representatives American military personnel of World War II United States Army non-commissioned officers 20th-century members of the Colorado General Assembly {{Colorado-politician-stub