Jerome Bob Traxler (July 21, 1931 – October 30, 2019), also known as J. Bob Traxler or Bob Traxler, was an American lawyer and politician from

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. He served ten terms in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

from 1974 to 1993.

Early life and career

Traxler was born in

Kawkawlin, Michigan Monitor Charter Township is a charter township of Bay County in the U.S. state of Michigan, organized in 1869. The township's population was 10,687 as of the 2020 census and is included in the Bay City Metropolitan Statistical Area. Communit ...

, and attended the public schools in Bay City, including T.L. Handy High School. He received a

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

from

Michigan State College Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the c ...

(now Michigan State University) in 1953 and an

LL.B. A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

from

Detroit College of Law The Michigan State University College of Law (Michigan State Law or MSU Law) is the law school of Michigan State University, a public research university in East Lansing, Michigan. Established in 1891 as the Detroit College of Law, it was the f ...

in 1959. He was admitted to the Michigan

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar ** Chocolate bar * Protein bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a laye ...

in 1960 and commenced practice in Bay City. While a student at Michigan State, he became a member of

Kappa Sigma Kappa Sigma (), commonly known as Kappa Sig or KSig, is an American collegiate social fraternity founded at the University of Virginia in 1869. Kappa Sigma is one of the five largest international Fraternities and sororities in North America, fr ...

fraternity. He served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

from 1953 to 1955. Afterwards, he served as assistant Bay County prosecutor, 1960–1962.

Political career

He was a member of the

Michigan House of Representatives The Michigan House of Representatives is the lower house of the Michigan Legislature. There are 110 members, each of whom is elected from constituencies having approximately 77,000 to 91,000 residents, based on population figures from the 2020 ...

from 1962 to 1974. In the legislature, he was majority floor leader in the Michigan house from 1965 to 1966. He served on the Michigan State University Board of Trustees from 1993 to 2000. He also served on the

Mackinac Island State Park Mackinac Island State Park is a state park located on Mackinac Island in the U.S. state of Michigan. A Lake Huron island, it is near the Straits of Mackinac. The island park encompasses , which is approximately 80% of the island's total area. ...

Commission from 1992 to 2005.

Congress

Following the resignation of Republican James Harvey on January 31, 1974, Traxler ran in the subsequent special election. He was elected as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

on April 16, 1974, to fill the vacancy to the

93rd United States Congress The 93rd United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C., from January 3, 197 ...

Michigan's 8th congressional district Michigan's 8th congressional district is a United States congressional district in Central Michigan. The district was first created in 1873, after redistricting following the 1870 census. From 2003 to 2013, it consisted of all of Clinton, Ing ...

. He was subsequently re-elected to the nine succeeding Congresses, serving from April 23, 1974, until his retirement from Congress on January 3, 1993. Due to congressional redistricting following the

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

census, the area represented by Traxler mostly became the

5th district District 5, 5 District or 5th District may refer to: Europe * District 5 (Zürich) * District 5, Düsseldorf * V District, Turku * Districts of Malta#District 5, District 5, an electoral district of Malta * Districts of Malta#District 5 2, Distric ...

. James A. Barcia was elected to succeed Traxler for the 103rd Congress in the re-drawn 5th congressional district.

Private life

Traxler was a resident of

Saginaw, Michigan Saginaw () is a city in Saginaw County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. It had a population of 44,202 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located along the Saginaw River, Saginaw is adjacent to Saginaw Charter Township, ...

. He had at least one daughter, Sarah, with Mary Richards. He married Jean B. Hose on January 1, 2006. Traxler died on October 30, 2019.

Notes

External links

The Political Graveyard
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Traxler, Jerome Bob 1931 births 2019 deaths Democratic Party members of the Michigan House of Representatives Michigan State University alumni Detroit College of Law alumni Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Michigan Politicians from Bay City, Michigan Military personnel from Michigan Michigan lawyers 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century members of the Michigan Legislature 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives