Merle Grace Kearns (May 19, 1938 – August 9, 2014) was a member of the

Ohio House of Representatives The Ohio House of Representatives is the lower house of the Ohio General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Ohio; the other house of the bicameral legislature being the Ohio Senate. The House of Representatives first met in ...

. She represented the 72nd House District and served as majority leader in the 126th General Assembly. Prior to her stint in the Ohio House, Kearns was a member of the

Ohio Senate The Ohio Senate is the upper house of the Ohio General Assembly. The State Senate, which meets in the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus, first convened in 1803. Senators are elected for four year terms, staggered every two years such that half of t ...

from 1991 to 2000, representing the 10th Senate District.

Formative years and family life

Born in

Bellefonte, Pennsylvania The Borough of Bellefonte is a borough in and the county seat of Centre County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is approximately 12 miles northeast of State College and is part of the State College, Pennsylvania metropolitan statistical area. ...

on May 19, 1938, Kearns received her bachelor's degree in home economics from

Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...

. Kearns lived in

Springfield, Ohio Springfield is a city in Clark County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is located in southwestern Ohio along the Mad River (Ohio), Mad River, Buck Creek, and Beaver Creek, about west of Columbus, Ohio, Columbus and northeast of ...

Public service career

Early on, during her public service career, Kearns served as a county commissioner in

Clark County, Ohio Clark County is a county located in the west central portion of the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 136,001. Its county seat and largest city is Springfield. The county was created on March 1, 1818, and was nam ...

. Prior to her election to the

, Kearns served in the

from 1991 to 2000, representing the 10th district. She then represented the 72nd district in the Ohio House of Representatives, where she was elected as majority leader during the 126th General Assembly.

Death

Kearns died in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...

on August 9, 2014.Votesmart.org.-Merle Grace Kearns
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References

External links

Profile on the Ohio Ladies Gallery website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kearns, Merle G. Republican Party members of the Ohio House of Representatives 21st-century members of the Ohio General Assembly 2014 deaths Republican Party Ohio state senators County commissioners in Ohio Women state legislators in Ohio 1938 births People from Bellefonte, Pennsylvania Politicians from Springfield, Ohio Ohio State University alumni 21st-century American women politicians