Henry Louis Bellmon, 88, who in 1963 became Oklahoma's first GOP governor since statehood and is known as the father of the state's modern Republican party, died Tuesday at St. Mary's Mercy Hospital in Enid, Okla.
He had Parkinson's disease, said Andrew Tevington, Bellmon's former chief of staff and general counsel.
A two-term U.S. senator, Bellmon served two nonconsecutive terms as governor, one that began in 1963 and one that started in 1987.
As the state's first GOP governor, he was credited with making the party a viable force in state politics.
In 1967, Bellmon served as national chairman of the Nixon for President campaign. Bellmon won election to the U.S. Senate in 1968 and again in 1974.
During his first term as a U.S. senator, Bellmon supported a federal court order that called for crosstown busing to achieve racial balance in Oklahoma City public schools. Many state newspapers criticized him for his stance.
