Chester L. Mize

Mize was born in Atchison, Kansas on December 25, 1917.[1] He attended the public schools of Atchison, and graduated from Atchison High School.[2] He then studied at the University of Kansas School of Business from 1935 to 1939.[1]

He joined the United States Naval Reserve in 1940, where he served on active duty in the South Pacific Theater from 1941 to 1945 on board the USS Hornet.[2] He was released to inactive service as a lieutenant commander at the end of the war, and was awarded the Bronze Star with Combat V.[1]

After World War II, Mize served in a number of leadership positions in business, including succeeding his father as treasurer of Blish, Mize & Silliman wholesale hardware.[1] He served as vice president of Locomotive Finished Materials Co. from 1951 to 1958, and as vice president of Valley Co., Inc. from 1958 to 1964.[1] He owned and operated a cattle ranch in New Mexico and a farm in Atchison County, Kansas, where he was a member of the Atchison School Board.[1]

Mize served as chairman of the board of trustees of Mount St. Scholastica College in Atchison.[1] He also served as member of the School of Business Administration Advisory Board and the athletic board of the University of Kansas, and was president of the school's alumni association.[1] In addition, Mize was a member of the Phi Delta Theta social fraternity.[3]

Mize was an active member of the Episcopal Church.[3] In addition, he was a member of the Kansas Farm Bureau, Kansas Chamber of Commerce, Elks Club, American Legion, and Veterans of Foreign Wars.[3]

Mize was elected as a Republican to the Eighty-ninth, Ninetieth, and Ninety-first Congresses (January 3, 1965 – January 3, 1971).[1]

Mize served on the House Banking and Currency Committee, and was a member of House Republican Conference task forces on Aging, the United Nations, and Latin America.[3] He was also interested in government farm policy, as well as several conservation and flood control projects that were planned for or under construction in his district.[3]

In 1970, Mize was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection to the Ninety-second Congress.[1] He served as chairman of the United States Tariff Commission in 1971.[1]

In retirement, Mize was a resident of first Naples, Florida,[3] and then La Jolla, California.[2] He died in La Jolla of bladder cancer on January 11, 1994.[1] He was buried Mount Vernon Cemetery in Atchison, Kansas.

Mize was married to Elizabeth Muchnic Mize.[2] They later divorced, and in 1985 Elizabeth Mize married Paul Elicker. Chester and Elizabeth Mize were the parents of David, Janet, and Anne.[2]

• Chester L. Mize at Find a Grave
• United States Congress. "Chester L. Mize (id: M000832)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved on 2009-5-16

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.