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Joe Skubitz

Politician. Republican. Born: May 6, 1906, Frontenac, Crawford County, Kansas. Died: September 11, 2000, Wichita, Kansas. Served in U.S. House of Representatives, 5th District: January 3, 1963, to December 31, 1978.

Joe SkubitzJoe Skubitz was born in Frontenac, Kansas, on May 6, 1906, and attended the public schools of Ringo, Girard, and Frontenac before going to Kansas State College at Pittsburg where he earned a bachelor of science degree in 1929 and a master's in 1934. During the late 1920s and 1930s, Skubitz also taught in the public schools, mostly in southeast Kansas, beginning in 1927; from 1929-1933 he served as principal and debate coach at Helper Rural High School and was principal at Arma Community High School in 1937. He then attended the Washburn University Law School (1938) but graduated from the law school at George Washington University in 1944 and was admitted to the bar that same year. Skubitz practiced in Kansas and the District of Columbia and served as an administrative assistant to senators Clyde M. Reed and Andrew F. Schoeppel, 1949-1962. Skubitz was first elected to Congress in 1962 to represent the newly drawn 5th District (he first won the G.O.P. primary by a mere 148 votes) and served from January 3, 1963 to December 31, 1978 (resigned); he did not seek reelection in 1978. The former Kansas congressman died in Wichita, Kansas, on September 11, 2000, and was buried at Wichita's Old Mission Cemetery. (For additional information, see this reference.)

Entry: Skubitz, Joe

Author: Kansas Historical Society

Author information: The Kansas Historical Society is a state agency charged with actively safeguarding and sharing the state's history.

Date Created: June 2011

Date Modified: September 2014

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