Dates

• Existence: 1911-1989

Biography

Herschel Cellel Loveless was born on May 5, 1911, on a farm near Fremont, Iowa. He graduated from Ottumwa High School at age sixteen. In 1927, he began working for the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad. He held various jobs with this railroad throughout the Great Depression. In 1939, Loveless went to work for John Morrell and Company as a turbine operator in their power plant in Ottumwa. In 1944, he returned to the C.M.St.P.&PRR as an employee in the Engineering Department. Three years later, on a leave of absence from the railroad, Loveless became the superintendent of streets for Ottumwa, Iowa, and later became their flood director. He was then elected to two terms as mayor of Ottumwa.

Loveless, a Democrat, was an unsuccessful candidate for governor in 1952. The following year, he became owner-manager of the Municipal Equipment Company headquartered in Ottumwa. In 1954 he was defeated in the race for a congressional seat. Loveless came back from these losses to become Governor of Iowa in 1959, serving two terms in office. In 1960, he again ran for a congressional seat and again was defeated. This marked the end of his political career. Herschel C. Loveless died in 1989, at the age of seventy-seven.

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