Thyra Kay Stevenson (September 4, 1944 – May 11, 2020) was an American politician from Idaho. She was a Republican member of

Idaho House of Representatives The Idaho House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the Idaho Legislature. It consists of 70 representatives elected to two-year terms. The state is divided into 35 districts, each of which elects two representatives to separate seats. ...

from District 6 in the A seat, dying in office.

Early life and education

Stevenson was born in

Palo Alto, California Palo Alto ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for ) is a charter city in northwestern Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. Th ...

, and moved to

Lewiston, Idaho Lewiston is a city and the county seat of Nez Perce County, Idaho, United States, in the state's North Central Idaho, north central region. It is the third-largest city in the Idaho Panhandle, northern Idaho region, behind Post Falls, Idaho, Pos ...

, with her family at the age of 13 when her father accepted a job with

PotlatchDeltic PotlatchDeltic Corporation (originally Potlatch Corp) is an American diversified forest products company based in Spokane, Washington. It manufactures and sells lumber, panels and particleboard and receives revenue from other assets such as miner ...

. She graduated from Lewiston High School as her class's valedictorian in 1962. Stevenson earned a Bachelor of Arts degree English and another in Spanish from

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

. She earned a certificate in Spanish from the New York University of Madrid in Spain, a Master of Arts in

Spanish literature Spanish literature is literature ( Spanish poetry, prose, and drama) written in the Spanish language within the territory that presently constitutes the Kingdom of Spain. Its development coincides and frequently intersects with that of other ...

from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

, and a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

Latin American literature Latin American literature consists of the oral and written literature of Latin America in several languages, particularly in Spanish, Portuguese, and the indigenous languages of Latin America. Latin American literature rose to particular pro ...

from the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

Career

Stevenson began flying when she was a child. As an experienced pilot, she flew planes such as DC-3s, Convairs,

Boeing 727 The Boeing 727 is an American Narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body airliner that was developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. After the heavier Boeing 707, 707 quad-jet was introduced in 1958, Boeing addressed the demand for shorter ...

cargo and passenger planes. Stevenson served in the military as an aircraft commander, Flotilla commander, and pilot instructor in the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and Admiralty law, law enforcement military branch, service branch of the armed forces of the United States. It is one of the country's eight Uniformed services ...

. Stevenson was also a chief information officer in the AuxAir Squadron. She was a professor of Spanish at

. On November 6, 2012, Stevenson won the election and became a Republican member of

for District 6 seat A. Stevenson defeated Pete Gertonson with 54.2% of the votes. On November 4, 2014, Stevenson was defeated by Dan Rudolf with 49.9% of the votes. On November 8, 2016, Stevenson was re-elected to her old seat in the

. Stevenson defeated Bob Blakely with 56.55% of the votes. Stevenson was the vice-chair of the Revenue and Taxation Committee. She died of heart problems while in office and Republican Governor

Brad Little Bradley Jay Little (born February 15, 1954) is an American politician serving as the 33rd governor of Idaho since January 2019. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 42nd Lieutenant Governor of Idaho ...

appointed

Aaron von Ehlinger Aaron von Ehlinger (born Aaron Anson Ehlinger; May 7, 1982) is an American former politician and convicted sex offender who served as a member of the Idaho House of Representatives from the 6th district. He was appointed to the House by Republic ...

to the remainder of her term.

Elections

Personal life and death

In 1978, Stevenson married Walter Noel Greenham (1941–2015), a Navy veteran and computer engineer. She had five children. Stevenson lived in California, until returning to

after retirement. Stevenson served on the Lewiston City Council. Stevenson died on May 11, 2020, at age 75, from complications of a heart attack she suffered a week prior.

References

External links

Thyra Stevenson
at the

Idaho Legislature The Idaho Legislature is the legislative branch of the government of the 43rd State of Idaho and is bicameral, consisting of the upper chamber of the Idaho Senate and the lower chamber of the Idaho House of Representatives. The state of Idaho ...

Thyra Stevenson's Campaign site

Biography at Ballotpedia

Financial information (state office)
at the National Institute for Money in State Politics
Thyra Stevenson at nezperceswcd.org

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stevenson, Thyra K 1944 births 2020 deaths 21st-century American women politicians Boston University College of Arts and Sciences alumni Female United States Coast Guard personnel Women military aviators Idaho city council members Republican Party members of the Idaho House of Representatives Aviators from California Military personnel from California New York University alumni Politicians from Lewiston, Idaho Politicians from Palo Alto, California University of Washington alumni Women state legislators in Idaho Women city councillors in Idaho 21st-century members of the Idaho Legislature