Former area legislator Stower dies in Amery

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Harvey Stower, long-time mayor of Amery and former state representative serving the 28th Assembly District, has died.

Stower died Tuesday morning at 10 a.m. Amery City Council President Michael Karuschak, Jr. has assumed the role of mayor on an interim basis.

Stower was an ordained United Methodist pastor, a former English teacher and coach, and was active in community organizations.

He served on the Wisconsin Land & Water Conservation Board, and the Boards of the Wisconsin Federation of Cooperatives, the Western Wisconsin Intergovernmental Collaborative, Wisconsin Church and Society-the United Methodist Church, and Inter-County Cooperative Publishing Association.

He spent eight years in the Wisconsin State Legislature, having been first elected in 1982. During that time he served as co-chair of the Forest Productivity and Rural Development Committee, the bipartisan Rural Caucus, and as chair of the Assembly Tourism and Recreation Committee.

Stower was the recipient of the 2001 Award for Excellence from the Robert Gard Wisconsin Idea Foundation, and numerous awards for his work on issues regarding human services, environmental protections, the arts, and veterans programs.

In 1994, he ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. House District 3rd seat.

Stower was born in Frederic on Sept. 17, 1944.

He graduated from Amery High School; received his bachelor’s degree from UW-River Falls in 1967; attended St. Andrews University, Scotland, in 1975; and received his master’s of divinity from Wesley Theology Seminary, Washington, D.C. in 1977.

Funeral arrangements are pending.

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