Shirley Neil Pettis (July 12, 1924 – December 30, 2016) was an American journalist and politician who served two terms as a

U.S. representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the 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 Article One of th ...

from

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

between 1975 and 1979. She was first elected to fill the seat after her husband,

Jerry Pettis Jerry Lyle Pettis (July 18, 1916 – February 14, 1975) was an American politician and a four-term Congressman from California from 1967 to 1975. He was also a rancher, teacher, aviator, religious leader, and businessman. Pettis was the first ...

, died in office.

Early life and career

Born Shirley Neil McCumber on July 12, 1924, in

Mountain View, California Mountain View is a city in Santa Clara County, California, United States, part of the San Francisco Bay Area. Named for its views of the Santa Cruz Mountains, the population was 82,376 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Mountain V ...

, Pettis attended elementary schools in

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland, Cali ...

from 1931 to 1932, and Berrien Springs, Michigan, from 1933 to 1937.

Higher education

She graduated from Andrews Academy in 1942. She attended

Andrews University Andrews University (Andrews) is a private Seventh-day Adventist university in Berrien Springs, Michigan. Founded in 1874 as Battle Creek College, it was the first higher education facility started by Seventh-day Adventists and is the flag ...

from 1942 to 1943, and the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

from 1944 to 1945.

Career

She was a co-founder and manager of Audio-Digest Foundation from 1950 to 1953, and a newspaper columnist for the Sun-Telegram,

San Bernardino, California San Bernardino ( ) is a city in and the county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the city had a population of 222,101 in the 2020 census, making it the List of ...

, from 1967 to 1970. Pettis served as vice president of the Republican Congressional Wives Club, 1975. She died in December 2016 at the age of 92.

Tenure in Congress

Pettis was elected as a Republican to the Ninety-fourth Congress, in a special election held to fill the vacancy caused by the death of her husband,

. Subsequently re-elected to the Ninety-fifth Congress, she served from April 29, 1975 – January 3, 1979. She did not seek renomination to Congress in 1978. While a Member of Congress she served first on the House Interior Committee and then the

House Foreign Affairs Committee The United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs, also known as the House Foreign Affairs Committee, is a standing committee of the U.S. House of Representatives with jurisdiction over bills and investigations concerning the foreign affairs ...

. She secured passage of her late husband's California Desert Protection Act and the Joshua Tree Wilderness Act legislation.

After Congress

She served as vice president, Women's Research and Education Institute,

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

from 1980 to 1981. She served as member of the Arms Control and Disarmament Commission from 1981 to 1983, and the Commission on Presidential Scholars from 1990 to 1992. She served as member of the board of directors, Kemper National Insurance Companies from 1979 to 1997.

Death

She died on December 30, 2016 in

Rancho Mirage, California Rancho Mirage is a city in Riverside County, California, United States. The city is a low-density desert community with resorts, golf courses, and country clubs within the Colorado Desert section of the Sonoran Desert. Nestled along the foothil ...

at the age of 92.

Electoral history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pettis, Shirley Neil 1924 births 2016 deaths American Seventh-day Adventists Andrews University alumni Female members of the United States House of Representatives Journalists from California Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from California University of California, Berkeley alumni Women in California politics People from Mountain View, California 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives 20th-century American women politicians