15 Facts About Leo Hoegh

Leo Arthur Hoegh was a decorated US Army officer, lawyer, and politician who served as the 33rd governor of Iowa from 1955 to 1957.

Leo Hoegh invested much of his newfound fortune in farmland in Audubon County, Iowa, became a community leader, and upon his death left separate farms for each of his thirteen children.

When Leo Hoegh was born to Nels' son William in 1908, the household spoke Danish, and it was not until Leo Hoegh attended school that he began to speak English.

Leo Hoegh received a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Iowa in 1929, where he distinguished himself as a captain of the water polo team and as the founding president of Gamma Nu chapter of Pi Kappa Alpha.

Leo Hoegh started private practice in Chariton, the county seat of Lucas County in south central Iowa.

In 1936, Leo Hoegh was elected as a Republican to the first of his three terms in the Iowa House of Representatives, where he exhibited leadership and rose successively to become Republican Floor Leader and chairman of the Judiciary Committee.

Leo Hoegh resigned from the Iowa legislature when he was called up for duty as a junior officer in the Iowa National Guard in 1942.

Colonel Leo Hoegh was in a group that flew behind the Soviet lines in a Piper Cub to establish liaison with Marshal Ivan Konev's advancing army.

Leo Hoegh wrote a history of the division, Timberwolf Tracks.

In 1954, Leo Hoegh was elected Governor of Iowa, winning a close contest over Democrat Clyde Edsel Herring, son of the former Iowa Governor and US Senator, Clyde LaVerne Herring.

Leo Hoegh worked to improve the state's mental institutions, changing the focus from custody to caring for and curing the mentally ill.

Leo Hoegh urged recognition of the union shop, legislative reapportionment to 'reduce the control of rural areas over the cities,' funds to promote industrial expansion, and a reduction in the voting age from 21 to 18.

Leo Hoegh was a member of the National Security Council, and represented the United States at emergency planning meetings of NATO.

In 1964, Leo Hoegh moved his law practice to Chipita Park, Colorado, where he practiced until his retirement in 1985.

Leo Hoegh died in Colorado Springs, Colorado in 2000, and was interred there at the Evergreen Cemetery.