(UnitedVoice.com) – Former Senator Jim Inhofe (R-OK) made national headlines in 2015 when he brought a snowball to the floor of the Senate. In a speech, he tossed it and mocked environmentalists for focusing on global warming when it was “very, very cold out.” Almost a decade later, the longest-serving senator in Oklahoma passed away.

On July 9, the Inhofe family released a statement to the media notifying them of the former senator’s death at the age of 89. He passed away at 4:48 a.m., just days after suffering a stroke on Independence Day.

Inhofe was born in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1934. When he was about eight years old, his family moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma. He graduated high school and attended the University of Colorado for a short period before finishing his degree at the University of Tulsa. In 1956, the US Army drafted him, and he served for two years. He married Kay Kirkpatrick in 1959.

The former lawmaker was a lawmaker for more than 50 years. He ran for office 51 times, winning 48. Inhofe served in the Oklahoma House from 1966 to 1969. He then moved to the state Senate, where he served from 1969 to 1977. After serving in the state legislature, he became the 32nd mayor of Tulsa, where he served from 1978 to 1984.

Inhofe then made his way to the nation’s capital. He served in the House of Representatives from 1987 to 1994 and then in the US Senate from 1994 until his retirement in 2023. Inhofe retired two years into his last term, citing health problems.

During his time in the Senate, he was a defense hawk who didn’t believe humans contributed to climate change. During his 1994 campaign, he focused on “God, guns, and gays.” He was a staunch opponent of the LGBTQ+ community and let it be known. His campaign template taught other Republicans how to beat Democrats using social issues.

Inhofe is survived by his wife, three children, and grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his son, Dr. Perry Dyson Inhofe II, who died in a plane crash in 2013 at the age of 51.

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