Former Iowa U.S. Sen. Roger Jepsen dies at 91

BETTENDORF, Iowa - Former U.S. Sen. Roger Jepsen, who represented Iowa in Washington, D.C., in the early 1980s, has died.

The 91-year-old Republican died Friday at a hospice in Bettendorf, according to the Runge Mortuary in Davenport. U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said Jepsen served the state well during his single term in the Senate from 1979 to 1985.

While in Congress, Jepsen led the Joint Economic Committee of Congress and served on the Armed Services and Agriculture committees, according to the Quad-City Times.

After losing his re-election bid to Democrat Tom Harkin, Jepsen was appointed chairman of the National Credit Union Administration Board and helped oversee more than 14,000 credit unions nationwide from 1985 until 1993.

Jepsen also served as Iowa's lieutenant governor from 1968 to 1972 under Gov. Robert Ray and then ran against Ray during the primary in 1972.

He previously had served as an Iowa state senator and a Scott County supervisor.

Jepsen served in the U.S. Army in 1946 and 1947 before continuing in the Army Reserve from 1948 to 1960.

Jepsen, who was born in Cedar Falls, Iowa, earned bachelor's and master's degrees from Arizona State University before returning to Iowa.