district state_senate succeeded death_date death_place birth_place party term_end preceded birth_date term_start article_title state name
1st ohio lynn wachtmann 2 june 2002 lima , ohio oak harbor , ohio republican december 31 , 1998 howard c. cook 1 june 1921 january 3 , 1975 m. ben gaeth
 ohio m. ben gaeth
m. ben gaeth

matthew ben gaeth -lrb- june 1 , 1921 -- june 2 , 2002 -rrb- was a member of the ohio senate from 1975 to 1998 , representing the 1st district .
born in oak harbor , ohio , and raised on a farm there , was the youngest of 13 children .
after graduating from bowling green state university in 1943 with a bachelor 's degree in business administration , gaeth enlisted in the us navy serving in both the atlantic and pacific during world war ii and received the purple heart .
gaeth entered public service in 1962 as defiance 's part-time safety director , at the request of then-mayor robert galliers .
three years later , when mr. galliers decided not to seek re-election , local republicans asked mr. gaeth to run for mayor .
gaeth 's first state senate campaign began at the request of mr. cook , his predecessor who in 1974 declared his candidacy for lieutenant governor .
but when mr. cook decided to abandon that pursuit , mr. brennan said , mr. gaeth refused to withdraw and defeated mr. cook in a primary battle .
holding office in the era before term limits , he was re-elected five times before retiring in 1998 .
he rose to the chairmanship of the agriculture , commerce , and labor committee and vice-chairmanship of the highways , transportation , and local government committee .
after retiring from the senate , gaeth returned to lima , ohio for retirement .
he died in 2002 .
