Wes Watkins, who represented Oklahoma’s 3rd Congressional District for a cumulative 20 years, died of cardiac arrest on Wednesday, March 26. He was 86.

Watkins took congressional office in 1976 after two years in the Oklahoma State Senate. He succeeded former U.S. House Speaker Carl Albert, who ultimately endorsed Watkins as Albert retired from a 30-year tenure. Running as a Democrat, Watkins won the election by securing 81.9 percent of the vote, and he won subsequent reelections by at least 77 percent of the vote until leaving Congress to run for governor in 1990. He lost in the Democratic primary to eventual Gov. David Walters by a difference of 0.6 percent. In 1994, he ran for governor as an independent candidate, earning 23.5 percent of the vote.

In 1996, he returned to the House of Representatives, this time as a Republican, reflecting the statewide swing in party affiliation from Democratic to Republican dominance still seen today. He left office in 2003.

“I had a purpose. And I felt like that wasn’t just my purpose, it was the purpose of trying to help the people who were hungry for jobs. They were wanting someone to try to help give them a better way of life,” Watkins said when interviewed by the Oklahoma Historical Society in 2017. “I never lost sight of that. I’ve tried to be a public servant, truly.”

During his first stint in Congress, Watkins served on several committees, including the Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs Committee, the Science and Technology Committee, the Appropriations Committee, the Energy and Water Development Subcommittee and the Rural Development Subcommittee. During his second stint, he served on the House Committee on the Budget, the House Ways and Means Committee, and the Human Resources Subcommittee.

Watkins’ sponsored legislation often addressed rural concerns, including the Rural Industrial Assistance Act of 1986, and policy benefitting sovereign tribal nations. He sponsored or co-sponsored 151 bills that ultimately became law. Early in his career, he advocated for the Equal Rights Amendment alongside his wife, Lou, and recently- deceased former state Sen. Billie Floyd.

Born Dec. 15, 1938, in De Queen, Arkansas, Watkins endured a difficult childhood, according to his son, Wade Watkins.

“It always blew my mind that he overcame so much as a boy — a broken home, extreme poverty, multiple trips to California so one or both of his parents could work, a speech impediment — and hitchhiked to [Oklahoma State University] and lived in a literal chicken house,” Wade Watkins said.

Wes Watkins spent most of his childhood in Bryan County. He graduated from OSU with a bachelor’s degree in agricultural education in 1960 and a master’s degree in educational administration in 1961, according to the Oklahoma Historical Society. During his time at the university, he was state president of the Future Farmers of America — part of a lifelong support of FFA, according to his son — and student body president.

After graduating, he became a land developer and homebuilder. Since 1991, Watkins lived in Stillwater and was an avid fan of the Oklahoma State Cowboys and Cowgirls. Watkins and his wife, who met in OSU’s library, made significant contributions to the university, including 16 endowed scholarships. His legacy is memorialized by multiple buildings on Oklahoma State’s campus, including the Wes Watkins Center for International Trade Development and the Wes Watkins Agricultural Research and Extension Center. The Wes Watkins Technology Center in Wetumka and a lake in Pottawatomie County also bear his name, along with several other institutions in the state.

He is survived by his wife of 61 years, Lou Rogers Watkins, who is a retired educator, activist and former Oklahoma A&M Board of Regents chairperson. He is also survived by son Wade Watkins and his partner Gena Ford; daughter Martha Pittman and her husband Arthur Pittman; son-in-law Joe Vielma; and grandchildren Bradley Arthur Pittman and his wife Ashley Phillips Pittman, Elizabeth Raye Pittman, Rena Cheyenne Dollarhide and her husband Cody Dollarhide, and Emma Watkins. He is preceded in death by his daughter, Sally Watkins Vielma. His son remembers Watkins as loving his children and grandchildren “with a full heart.”

“He loved this state and his family immensely. He was my inspiration and mentor and taught me to always try and serve others first. He exemplified that concept for over a half century,” Wade Watkins said. “His entire life was about serving others and helping many who needed it most. I think the title of his autobiography sums it up nicely: Making Things Better.”