EMERSON DIES OF LUNG CANCER; CONGRESSMAN HAD BEEN HOSPITALIZED WITH RESPIRATORY INFECTION SINCE MONDAY

U.S. Rep. Bill Emerson died of lung cancer Saturday night at Bethesda Naval Hospital in Bethesda, Md. He was 58.

The announcement of his death, which occurred at 6:17 p.m. Cape Girardeau time, came in a brief statement issued from his Washington office Saturday night.

Funeral arrangements had not been made.

Emerson, a Cape Girardeau Republican who represented Missouri's 8th Congressional District, was diagnosed with lung cancer in October 1995.

He had undergone a combination of radiation and chemotherapy treatments for the inoperable disease and had continued to carry out his congressional duties.

He was admitted to the Bethesda hospital for observation Monday after coming down with a respiratory infection.

"I am resting comfortably and am following my doctor's orders," Emerson said in prepared statement Thursday.

Emerson's wife and family were with him when he died, said Emerson's chief of staff Lloyd Smith. The family did not want to answer any other questions late Saturday, Smith said.

Survivors include his wife, Jo Ann; their two daughters, Victoria and Katherine; and two daughters from a previous marriage, Elizabeth and Abigail.

Praise for Emerson and his accomplishments quickly followed the announcement of his death.

"He was a great friend and it is going to be a tremendous loss all the way around for all of us," said Cape Girardeau Mayor Al Spradling III.

Emerson's contributions in Congress and the 8th Congressional District he represented are impossible to measure, Spradling said.

"I don't know if his contributions are even quantifiable," Spradling said. "He has represented his district impeccably. He had gone out and done what the people asked him to do.

"He has just been a very great sounding board for this community by passing on information to Washington and getting the job done."

Southeast Missourian owner Gary Rust called Emerson "an honest Christian who worked hard for the people in this district and for the United States."

Said Rust: "He was respected by Democrats and Republicans and was always open and direct about his views. He was a conservative who believed government had a place in our society and worked hard to make it work.

"He will be remembered."

When he disclosed Nov. 1 that he had lung cancer, Emerson said his doctor had told him that through aggressive treatment the cancer might be contained. The cancer was found in his left lung following tests that were ordered after a routine physical revealed a form of walking pneumonia.

For a time, Emerson had treatments five mornings a week at Georgetown University Medical Center.

Emerson said having cancer changed his outlook on life, particularly his desire to spend more time with his family.

"You do have a totally different sense than I've ever experienced in my life," he said during an interview earlier this year. "You say, if I get better, I don't want to do things the old way anymore. I want to do things differently. You have different priorities."

"In the period of time since I was diagnosed and I have been under treatment, we've had 188 votes in the House and I've only missed five very minor votes," Emerson said.

He was in the district in February and again in May, when he said he was doing well. In April he said treatment had reduced the tumor by about 40 percent.

During his May visit he said he looked forward to being elected to a ninth term in the U.S. House.

When he filed for a re-election, Emerson said he was proud to work with the conservative majority in Congress toward balancing the federal budget and reducing the nation's deficit.

"Americans across the land should be allowed to keep more of what they earn in their own pockets and better decide how to spend those dollars at home rather than sending them to Washington," he said.

"We are on the right track to win this important fight to change the size and scope of government," Emerson said at the time.

A native of Jefferson County, Emerson was born Jan. 1, 1938, at Hillsboro.

At the age of 15, he won appointment as a page in the U.S. House, a position he held from 1953-1955.

He graduated from Westminster University in Fulton in 1959 with a bachelor of arts degree. After one year at the University of Missouri Law School, Emerson returned to Washington, D.C., as national program director of the Nixon Lodge Youth.

Emerson began work in 1961 as an administrative assistant and chief of staff to two U.S. congressmen. In 1964, he earned a degree from the University of Baltimore by attending night classes. In 1970, Emerson left Washington and spent several years in the public relations field. At the time he first ran for Congress, he headed Emerson and Associates, a consulting firm that specialized in government relations and legal analysis.

Including his time as House page, Emerson's early Washington experience included serving as administrative assistant to U.S. Rep. Bob Ellsworth, R-Kansas, and U.S. Rep. Charles Mathias, R-Maryland, from 1960 through 1970. He also served an assistant to Mathias when Mathias was elected to the U.S. Senate.

In 1970, he went to work as director of government relations for Fairchild Industries.

In 1974 Emerson joined Interstate Natural Gas Association as director of public affairs. He was a registered lobbyist for the trade association, but most of the work he did consisted of handling governmental matters, press operations, public presentations and a scholarship program.

Emerson was first elected to Congress in 1980 when he unseated six-term Democratic incumbent Bill Burlison in what was then Missouri's 10th Congressional District by nearly 22,000 votes. Emerson was the first Republican to win election to the seat since 1928.

"We've won the unwinable race," Emerson said at the time.

At the time of his death, Emerson was a member of the Agriculture, Public Works and Transportation committees.

He was retired from the U.S. Air Force Reserve at the rank of captain. He was of the Presbyterian faith.