Christopher 'Kit' Bond, former Missouri governor, US senator, dies at 86

Christopher “Kit” Bond, a former Missouri governor and U.S. senator who, over 24 years, changed the face of Kansas City, died Tuesday in his native St. Louis at age 86 .

A Republican who was served two terms as Missouri Governor (1973 to 1977 and 1981 to 1985) Bond, while in the U.S. Senate, was responsible for supporting or shepherding numerous projects to the Kansas City area that include the Internal Revenue Service building, funding for the renovation for Union Station and a modernist bridge over the Missouri River which opened in 2010 and bears his name.

Bond’s death was announced by Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe who, in a statement, called Bond “a skilled statesman, public servant, and a man who truly loved Missouri.”

“I am blessed to have known Kit and honored to call him a friend and mentor,” Kehoe said.

A husband, father and grandfather, Bond was a Princeton University graduate. He served in the U.S. Senate from 1987 to 2011. He had also served as Missouri’s State Auditor from 1971 to 1973 before being elected governor.

Kit Bond

“Kit Bond was one of the most consequential people in the history of our state,” former U.S. Sen. John Danforth wrote in a statement. “At each level of his career, he knew the responsibilities of the job he was elected to do, and he did that job very well.”

He continued, “As a U.S. Senator, he focused on results for Missouri. From highways and bridges to Parents as Teachers, his contributions are tangible. But, even more important, his high standard of diligent service is a permanent model for public officials to follow.”

As Missouri governor, Bond was viewed as a moderate.

“(T)he job of governor,” Bond said in a 2014 oral history, “was one of the most satisfying jobs I’ve ever had.”

In that role, Bond supported the Equal Rights Amendment. In his second term, he also championed The Parents as Teacher program, which later, as a U.S Senator, he worked toward make a national program.

“I really believe that Parents as teachers was giving Missouri’s children a head start over every other school district in the nation,” Bond said in the interview. “I thought, this is something that can make a true difference in the educational achievement of all the young people in America.”

A Missouri leader

Although in different parties, Bond worked closely with former Kansas City councilman, mayor and current U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II.

“Kit Bond was a superb statesman, an exemplary public servant, and a dear friend to myself and Missourians across the Show Me State,” Cleaver said in a statement.

“From his time as State Auditor to his stewardship of Missouri as Governor, and eventually as Missouri’s Senator in Washington, Kit was the kind of elected official that every Missourian could be proud to call their representative; I know I was.”

Cleaver extolled Bond’s rise “from the small town of Mexico, Missouri” to law school and a clerkship at the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.

”He was the epitome of the American Dream,” Cleaver wrote, “and what is possible through hard work and perseverance. While he could have stayed in Washington, D.C. to pursue a lucrative career in law, his love for Missouri and passion for public service were a magnetic force that brought him back home.”

Cleaver credited Bond’s leadership on numerous Kansas City projects, including the Charles E. Whittaker Federal Courthouse, the National World War I Museum and Memorial, redevelopment along 18th & Vine and the construction of the Christopher S. Bond Bridge.

“(O)ne cannot walk around our community without experiencing the important work of Kit Bond,” Cleaver wrote, “and every Kansas Citian should be grateful for his willingness to seek common ground and work across the aisle to make each of them possible.

“With time, our professional relationship grew into a profound friendship that I will cherish forever.”

Missouri officials react

Born in Mexico, Missouri, he attended the private Deerfield Academy in Massachusetts before attending Princeton. He graduated in 1960 to attend and graduate law school in 1963 from the University of Virginia.

In 1972, he was elected at age 33 to be the youngest governor in Missouri’s history.

On social media, former Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill sent her sympathies to the Bond family, and wrote, “I am proud that Kit and i were friends. He cared deeply and always about Missouri.”

U.S. Sen, Eric Schmitt also said he was “saddened to hear of the passing of legendary Missouri Senator Christopher ‘Kit’ Bond.

“He helped to improve the lives of generations of Missourians across the Show Me State,” Schmitt wrote. “Please join me in praying for Kit, his wife, Linda, his son Sam, the entire Bond family, and all of those who loved him.”

Kehoe on Tuesday signed a proclamation order U.S. and Missouri flags to be on all government buildings to be flown at half-mast until sunset on May 22.

At noon, Tuesday, May 20, a memorial service honoring Bond is to be held in the rotunda of the Missouri State Capital. The public is invited to attend. Bond will lie in state in the rotunda for 24 hours following the service.

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