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Capitol Notebook: Former Iowa lawmaker and Regents member Larry McKibben dies at 78
Former lawmaker, longtime Marshalltown attorney remembered for public service, community leadership
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Larry McKibben, a former state senator, longtime Marshalltown attorney and past member of the Iowa Board of Regents, died Sunday at age 78.
Gov. Kim Reynolds on Wednesday ordered all flags in Iowa remain at half-staff from sunrise to sunset, Thursday, Nov. 13, in his honor.
“Larry McKibben was a kind and good man and was loved by all who knew him. I had the privilege of working briefly alongside Larry in the Iowa State Senate and later got to know him well while he served on the Board of Regents,” Reynolds said in a statement. “Kevin and I offer our condolences and prayers to his family during this time. He will be deeply missed.”
A Marshalltown native, McKibben served in the Iowa Senate from 1997 to 2010 after years of community involvement, including serving on the Marshalltown School Board, coaching youth sports and helping found the Marshalltown I-Club. In 2013, he was appointed to the Board of Regents, where he served until 2019.
After graduating from Marshalltown High School, he earned a political science degree from the University of Northern Iowa — where he met his wife, Marlene — and a law degree from the University of Iowa. He practiced farm and tax law in Marshalltown for nearly five decades, retiring in 2021, according to his obituary.
McKibben was active in Rotary and often found on a combine at harvest each fall at the family farm or cheering at high school and college sporting events, the obituary reads. He served in the Iowa Army National Guard before receiving an honorary medical discharge.
He is survived by his wife of 56 years, Marlene, two children, two grandsons, two brothers and extended family.
Memorials may be directed to First Methodist Church or the Larry and Marlene Endowed Scholarship at the University of Northern Iowa Foundation.
Cournoyer presents Iowa’s rural emergency response model at national conference
Iowa Lt. Gov. Chris Cournoyer delivered a presentation on Iowa’s rural emergency response model at the National Rural Economic Development Association (NREDA) annual conference in Nashville last week.
On Nov. 6, Cournoyer highlighted Iowa United First Aid, a pilot program designed to improve survival outcomes in communities where EMS response times are significantly longer than the national average.
Rural EMS response times are significantly longer than urban response times, with the rural average at 28-30 minutes while the average urban response time is eight minutes. Seventy-seven of Iowa’s 99 counties are classified as rural.
The program is currently being piloted in Cass, Van Buren and Calhoun counties to represent a cross-section of Iowa’s rural communities. Under the initiative, teams of trained community volunteers are equipped to provide immediate lifesaving assistance before EMS professionals arrive.
“Rural communities deserve the same access to rapid emergency care as any other community,” Cournoyer said in a statement Wednesday. “Iowa United First Aid trains and equips neighbors to help neighbors — saving lives while EMS teams are en route.”
The program provides pilot counties with $50,000 in state grant support, 10 fully equipped “go bags” with first aid supplies, and training and support for volunteer coordination and dispatch technology integration.
The presentation included a panel of the Governor’s Rural Iowa Task Force leaders, including Governor’s Empower Rural Iowa Initiative Director Sacha Wise; James B. Hoelscher with the Institute for Decision Making, Business & Community Services; Shalimar Mazetis, the rural economic development manager for Advance Southwest Iowa Corporation; and Calhoun County Economic Development Executive Director Theresa Hildreth.
Gazette-Lee Des Moines Bureau
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