Richard Odum Hart (December 13, 1927 – March 12, 2018) was an American lawyer and politician. Hart was born in

Benton, Illinois Benton is a city in and the county seat of Franklin County, Illinois. The population was 6,709 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. In 1839, Franklin County, Illinois, Franklin County was split roughly in half and the county seat was p ...

and graduated from

Benton Consolidated High School Benton Consolidated High School (BCHS) is a public high school located in Benton, Illinois, United States. The campus is located in a city setting on Benton's east side, and has been operating (though in separate buildings) since 1888. Benton C ...

in 1945. He served in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

in 1945 and 1946. Hart received his bachelor's degree in political science and economic from

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United ...

in 1951 and his law degree from

Washington University School of Law The Washington University School of Law (WashU Law) is the law school of Washington University in St. Louis, a private research university in St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1867, it is the oldest continuously operating law school west of the ...

in 1954. Hart was admitted to the Illinois bar in 1954 and practiced law in Benton, Illinois. He was also involved in the banking business. Hart served in the

Illinois House of Representatives The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The House under the constitution as amended in 1980 consists of 118 representativ ...

from 1969 to 1978 and was 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 ...

. Hart died at

Barnes-Jewish Hospital Barnes-Jewish Hospital is the largest hospital in the U.S. state of Missouri. Located in the Central West End, St. Louis, Central West End neighborhood of St. Louis, it is the adult teaching hospital for Washington University School of Medicin ...

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

.Richard O. Hart-obituary
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Notes

1927 births 2018 deaths People from Benton, Illinois Military personnel from Illinois Illinois lawyers Businesspeople from Illinois University of Illinois alumni Washington University School of Law alumni Democratic Party members of the Illinois House of Representatives 20th-century members of the Illinois General Assembly {{Illinois-Ilrepresentative-Democratic-stub