HISTORICAL GROUP HONORS LIMBAUGH

Three Southeast Missouri men were recognized at the State Historical Society of Missouri's annual meeting Oct. 14.

H. Riley Bock of New Madrid was elected president of the society. He will serve a three-year term in that office, and had been a member of the Board of Trustees.

Gary Rust of Cape Girardeau was appointed to fill the last year of Bock's term on the Board of Trustees. He will serve until October 1996. Rust is the president of Rust Communications, which owns the Southeast Missourian.

And Rush H. Limbaugh of Cape Girardeau, a permanent trustee of the state historical society, was named the winner of the society's Distinguished Service Award. Limbaugh, who recently celebrated his 104th birthday, is a long-time lawyer in Cape Girardeau.

James W. Goodrich, executive director of the state historical society, said Limbaugh was not present to receive the award. Society members will make a presentation later in Cape Girardeau.

"We plan to do it before the end of the year," Goodrich said, adding a date has not yet been set. The society's nominating committee chose Limbaugh to receive the award. "He probably should have gotten it a number of years ago, as a matter of fact," Goodrich said.

"He's been an officer of the society and a past president. In fact, in 1915, when he was going to law school at the University of Missouri, he was an employee of the society," Goodrich said. "He's had a long career and he's always been interested in history."