Former U.S. Rep. Chenoweth-Hage dies in Nevada car crash

lasvegassun.com ^ | October 02, 2006 | BRENDAN RILEY

[lunarbicep]

Former U.S. Rep. Helen Chenoweth-Hage died Monday in a car crash, her daughter said.

Chenoweth-Hage, a Republican who was elected to Congress from Idaho in 1994 and served through 2000, was 68. Her daughter, Meg Chenoweth Keenan, said Chenoweth-Hage was a passenger in the Monday morning crash near Tonopah, Nev. No one else was seriously injured in the one-car crash, she said.

Chenoweth had been married since 1999 to Wayne Hage, a Nevada rancher who came to epitomize Nevada's Sagebrush Rebellion as he battled for decades with the federal government over public lands and private property rights. He died in June at age 69.

Born in Topeka, Kan., Chenoweth-Hage grew up in Grants Pass, Ore. and attended Whitworth College in Spokane, Wash., before moving to the northern Idaho timber town of Orofino, where she worked at Northside Medical Center.

She became a well-known political name in the state when she moved to Boise in the 1970s, serving as the executive director of the Idaho Republican Party and becoming U.S. Rep. Steven Symms' chief of staff.

She ran for Congress against incumbent Democrat Larry LaRocco and gained national attention when she held "endangered salmon bakes," serving canned salmon and ridiculing the listing of Idaho salmon as an endangered species during fundraisers.

An advocate of smaller government and property rights, Chenoweth-Hage won the race and served a self-imposed three-term limit as a U.S. representative.

[Jim Robinson]

Very sad. Prayers for her family.

[Delphinium]

I loved Helen so much. She was one of two people who influenced my life the most.

I know the Lord must have taken her home, but I am so sad we have lost her.

One I know that because of the Lords leading, and the mentoring she did, there will be many to carry on the work she did.

[Jeff Head]

Waytne died only recently. RIP Helen, and may God rest your soul and may your reunion with Wayne be sweet. God comfort your family dear patriot...you and Wayne will both be sorely missed.!

[Delphinium]

Breaking News: Car crash kills Chenoweth-Hage

Helen Chenoweth-Hage, a conservative Republican firebrand who served three terms as an Idaho congresswoman, was killed Monday when she was thrown from a car that overturned on an isolated central Nevada highway.

A daughter, Meg Chenoweth Keenan, said her mother was a passenger in the SUV-type vehicle that flipped just before noon Monday on State Route 376, the main route between her Pine Creek Ranch, in Monitor Valley, and Tonopah. The Nevada Highway Patrol said Chenoweth-Hage, 68, was pronounced dead at the scene. Though other family members were in the car — including the driver, daughter-in-law Yelena Hage, 24, and Hage’s 5-month-old son Bryan Hage — no one else was seriously injured.

NHP Trooper Rocky Gonzalez said Chenoweth-Hage was holding the baby and wasn’t wearing a seat belt. Nevada law requires both seat belts and baby seats. He added both Chenoweth-Hage and the baby were thrown from the car but the child “miraculously” had only minor injuries.

Gonzalez said a preliminary investigation indicates driver inattention. He said the SUV, traveling toward Tonopah, drifted off the road to the right, swerved back to the left and then flipped as the driver overcorrected in an attempt to stay on the road.

Chenoweth-Hage was killed four months after the death of her husband, Nevada rancher Wayne Hage, who battled the federal government for decades over public lands and private property rights and came to epitomize the Sagebrush Rebellion in the West. Hage had been ill and died in his sleep at age 69.

Chenoweth-Hage was elected to Congress from Idaho in 1994 and served three two-year terms. The outspoken advocate of smaller government and property rights chose not to run in 2000.

U.S. Rep. Butch Otter, who replaced Chenoweth, said he only ran in 2000 because she opted to retire.

“What a tragedy,” Otter said. “Helen was a person, whether in her private life or in her public service, who was dedicated to principles of limited government. In every sense of her being, she fought for the maximum individual liberty — and the minimum in government.”

“Helen was the most amazing, gracious person I ever had the privilege to know,” her daughter said in a statement. “She was fearless in life, and I know she welcomes the opportunity to be in the presence of God her father.”

Born in Topeka, Kan., Chenoweth-Hage grew up in Grants Pass, Ore., and attended Whitworth College in Spokane, Wash., before moving to the northern Idaho timber town of Orofino, where she worked at Northside Medical Center.

She became a well-known political name in Idaho when she moved to Boise in the 1970s, serving as the executive director of the Idaho Republican Party and becoming U.S. Rep. Steven Symms’ chief of staff.

She ran for Congress against incumbent Democrat Larry LaRocco and gained national attention when she held “endangered salmon bakes,” serving canned salmon and ridiculing the listing of Idaho salmon as an endangered species during fundraisers.

Chenoweth-Hage also said that salmon aren’t endangered but white males are, complained about government “black helicopters” harassing ranchers, said minorities didn’t like northern Idaho because it is too cold and called for disarming federal resource enforcement agents.

She also said she suffered from unjustified media criticism because she was a woman and because she stood firmly for Western rights, independence and sovereignty.

During her congressional career, Chenoweth-Hage was a victim of a “salmon pie” attack while at a field hearing on forest health in Missoula, Mont. Randall Mark of Moscow, Idaho, hit her in the head with a “pie” made of rotten canned salmon, forcing the meeting to adjourn for an hour while she cleaned salmon flakes from her hair and jacket.

Afterward, the congresswoman joked, “I would like to say that I find it amusing that they used salmon. I guess salmon must not be endangered anymore.” The stunt landed Mark in jail for more than two months. He also got a year of probation.

She married Hage in 1999 in Meridian at a ceremony attended by more than 1,000 guests. In 2000, Chenoweth-Hage considered a possible bid for Idaho’s lieutenant governor’s post, but then opted to work for a private property advocacy group in Boise. (AP)

[Jeff Head]

Another great patriot returns home to the arms of our Savior and her loved ones who have gone before. Rest in Peace dear patriot, and may God rest your eternal soul!

[patton]

What a cool lady. Wish I had met her.

[Howlin]

Dadgumit; she was a great lady!

Prayers for her family and friends.

[Jeff Head]

She will be sorely missed, as will Wayne. Many of us hoped that one day she would run for Idaho governor...but God in Heaven had other plans.

Single car accident. She was sitting in ta passenger seat holding a grandchild infant when the car drifted and the driver over-corrected and it flipped. She and the child were thrown from the vehcile. helen was killed and miracuously, the infant was uninjured.

[patton]

Gott Sei Dank that the baby is safe.

[muddypaws]

How sad.....I used to ride my mule in parades w/Helen.........she always made me feel like I was somebody important....she was a wonderful person,very kind,a great lady...God bless her....

[Jeff Head]

Ganz genau! I can't help but think that in someway, Helen did what she could to ensure that.

[B-Chan]

I'm tempted to say "They finally got her."

But that would be crazy and paranoid, wouldn't it?

[Delphinium]

If you only knew the whole story you might forgive her. Life isn't just that simple.

And there really wasn't anyone else like her.

[Diverdogz]

Great, next you are going to tell me that if we knew Clinton's whole story we might forgive him. After all, life isn't that simple.

But the reality is you sound like a democrat by trying to excuse the six year affair she had with a married man. (and the lies that she told before finally admitting it.)

Sorry, I'm feeling a little bit jaded towards ALL the members of congress right now.

[Delphinium]

Better be careful, there are alot of conservatives who adored Helen.

She has just died today and you want to start trouble on a thread with people who loved her?

Who are you to think you know all about it anyway?

This happened years ago, and she repented and turned her life to serve the Lord.

In that service that the Lord led her in she accomplished alot.

what can you say for yourself?

I haven't been perfect either, but I will still try to make a difference.

[F.J. Mitchell]

Condolences to her family and friends.

[Colorado Buckeye]

What a sad day. We have a wanton slaughter of innocent life in Pennsylvania and the loss of a great American patriot lady in Nevada. Prayers for all involved.

[Diverdogz]

My original comment was intended more to slam the rest of the clowns we have in congress now.

No, she wasn't a saint, she was human with human successes and failures. The thought of dying in a car wreck is horrific and I'm disturbed to think that this beautiful woman was died such a violent death.

But I'm unimpressed by people 'turning to the Lord' after a scandal (especially a politician). Religion is the last refuge of a scoundrel.

[F.J. Mitchell]

We are all scoundrels. A Christian is a scoundrel saved by grace. All can be if they choose.