100-year-old former Minnesota lawmaker dies
Walter Klaus, who turned 100 in April, and who was a Minnesota representative for 14 years and helped shape Minnesota politics for decades behind the scenes, particularly on redistricting issues, has died, the Farmington Independent reports.
Redistricting was still a source of passion for the centenarian even at his latest birthday, the Hastings Star Gazette reported.
Klaus also wrote a column in the newspaper in Farmington for years, called "Klaus on the House," which Klaus would type on a typewriter and deliver to the newsroom, the Gazette notes.
Klaus was born in Empire Township in Dakota County, and was a farmer when he was elected as a Republican to the state House in 1957, according to his Minnesota Legislature page.
The Legislature has this photo of him from his service in the early 1970s:
