Kansas House member representing south Wichita dies after illness: official

Rep. Ron Howard, who represented the south side of Wichita in the Kansas House, died Tuesday after an illness, an official said.

“I’m saddened of the passing of my friend and legislative neighbor, Rep. Ron Howard,” Rep. Nick Hoheisel said on Twitter. “Ron cared about his district deeply, fighting for South Wichita every day. May God comfort his wife Terri, and the rest of the Howard family. South Wichita will miss you, my friend.”

Howard returned to the Legislature in the final days of the session to override Gov. Laura Kelly’s tax plan after being absent for medical reasons all session.

In the 2021 session, Howard served on the veterans and military, social services budget, agriculture and natural resources budget and the local government committees.

The two-term representative narrowly beat incumbent Democrat Steven Crum in 2018 and then beat Crum by a wider margin in 2020.

This story was originally published July 20, 2021 at 9:54 PM with the headline "Kansas House member representing south Wichita dies after illness: official."