A former Congressman from southwest Iowa has died after a series of illnesses. William Scherle was 80 and had farmed and raised livestock in the Henderson area of Mills County. Scherle’s son, John, says his father died in his sleep early Wednesday. John Scherle, also of rural Henderson, says his father had been sick for several weeks as a heart condition worsened and he suffered through a bout prostate cancer. He’d been in a nursing home for a few weeks. The younger Scherle detailed a bit of his father’s history, saying he was from New York state, moved to Texas and got married to a southwest Iowa woman, then moved to Iowa to farm in 1948. He got involved in politics in 1956 when he was named the Mills County Republican Party chairman. He ran for an Iowa House seat in 1960, served three terms in the Legislature, then ran for Congress and served four terms in Washington. He was defeated by Democrat Tom Harkin in 1974, who later became a U.S. Senator. Scherle was appointed by President Ford to serve in a top post of the U-S-D-A in the mid-70s.
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