Among the slew of departures from the Legislature announced in recent days were three Washington State University alums who left their mark. You can watch their farewell addresses and tributes paid to them yesterday on the floor of the Senate and floor of the House of Representatives.
Rep. JT Wilcox of Yelm is best known for having served as House Republican leader. A WSU history graduate from the class of 1985, Wilcox has deep family roots with the university. His great grandfather Judson purchased 240 acres in the Nisqually River Valley in the early 1900s and he and his wife Elizabeth enrolled in a poultry school offered by what is now WSU’s Puyallup Research and Extension Center. That education helped spur the development of Wilcox Farms, whose eggs you’ll find in your local grocery store.
Sen. Kevin Van DeWege, a Democrat representing most of the Olympic Peninsula, is a WSU distance degree graduate from the class of 2002 back in the days before there was a Global Campus. Widely respected on both sides of the aisle, Van De Wege serves as the chair of the Agriculture, Water, Natural Resources and Parks Committee. He’s spent a total of 14 years in the Legislature, including 10 years in the House, and is one of the Legislature’s foremost authorities on rural issues.
Sen. Sam Hunt, an Olympia Democrat and member of the WSU Class of 1970, is retiring after 24 years in the Legislature, including 16 in the House. After serving as a schoolteacher in Pasco and Montesano, Hunt spent time as a staffer for the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee, the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, the state Senate, education advisor to Gov. Booth Gardner, and legislative director for the Department of Information Services.