Vernal G. Riffe Jr. (June 26, 1925 – July 31, 1997) was an American politician and member of the Democratic Party. Riffe served in 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 ...

for 36 years, from 1959 to 1995, and served as speaker for 19 years, from 1975 to 1994.

Life and political career

Vern Riffe's father, Vernal G. Riffe, Sr., was involved in local government in their hometown of New Boston, Ohio, holding positions such as mayor, safety director, and police office

Riffe was a moderate Democrat. He represented the 92nd District, which included

Southern Ohio Appalachian Ohio is a bioregion and political unit in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Ohio, characterized by the western foothills of the Appalachian Mountains and the Appalachian Plateau. The Appalachian Regional Commission defines ...

. He worked to secure funding for development projects in Southern Ohio. These projects included

Shawnee State University Shawnee State University (SSU) is a public university in Portsmouth, Ohio, United States, established in 1986. It is the southernmost member of the University System of Ohio. History Although its roots date back to 1945 when Ohio University est ...

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

and State Route 32, which has been referred to as both the "Highway to Nowhere" and the Appalachian Highway. Several state entities and programs in Ohio were named after Riffe. These include the Vernal Riffe Chair at

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 ...

, the Vernal G. Riffe Building at Ohio State, the Vern Riffe Center for Government and the Arts in Columbus, and the Vern Riffe Center for the Arts in

. Thelma L. Riffe, Riffe's widow, died on August 4, 2010. Both are buried at Memorial Burial Park in

Wheelersburg, Ohio Wheelersburg is a census-designated place (CDP) in Scioto County, Ohio, United States. It lies along the northern banks of the Ohio River in southern Ohio. Wheelersburg is approximately east of Portsmouth and west of Ironton. It is in P ...

Autobiography

An autobiographical book, ''Whatever's Fair'', co-written by Cliff Treyens, a former '' Columbus Dispatch'' writer, was published in the spring of 2007. A gathering of family, friends, and former political colleagues was held the day before Riffe's birthday at the Portsmouth Welcome Center to introduce the book.

References

External links

Ohio Historical Society

Shawnee State University

Official Site of the Ohio Government
{{DEFAULTSORT:Riffe, Vern 1925 births 1997 deaths Speakers of the Ohio House of Representatives Democratic Party members of the Ohio House of Representatives Ohio State University faculty People from Portsmouth, Ohio Shawnee State University People from New Boston, Ohio 20th-century members of the Ohio General Assembly