Ross Rizley

Roscoe Rizley, also known as Ross Rizley, (July 5, 1892 – March 4, 1969) was an American politician and a U.S. Representative from Oklahoma.

Biography

Rizley was born on July 5, 1892 on a farm near Beaver, Oklahoma and was the son of Robert and Arabella Rizley. He was educated in public schools, and taught in the rural schools of Beaver County, Oklahoma, in 1909 and 1910. He served as a deputy register of deeds of Beaver County, Oklahoma, in 1911 and 1912.

He received his law degree from the University of Kansas City, Kansas City, Missouri, in 1915. He was admitted to the bar the same year and commenced practice in Beaver, Oklahoma. He married Ruby Seal in 1916 and they had seven children, one of whom, Hortense, would become actress Claudia Bryar.

Career

Rizley was elected county attorney of Beaver County in 1918 and served until 1920, when he resigned and moved to Guymon, Texas County, Oklahoma, and resumed the practice of law. Rizley was a member of the Guymon Board of Education from 1924 to 1932, and in 1928 he became the city attorney of Guymon and served until 1938. From 1931 to 1934, Rizley was a State senator. Rizley ran for election for the office of Governor of Oklahoma in 1938, but was unsuccessful.

Elected as a Republican to the Seventy-seventh and to the three succeeding Congresses, Rizley served from January 3, 1941 to January 3, 1949, attaining the post of chairman of the Special Committee on Campaign Expenditures during the Eightieth Congress. He served as delegate to the Republican National Conventions in 1932, 1936, and 1948. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1948 but was unsuccessful for election to the United States Senate.

Rizley was elected chairman of the credentials committee for the 1952 Republican National Convention, defeating Minnesota delegate, Warren Burger. He then became solicitor for the Post Office Department, Washington, D.C., from March to December 1953. He was Assistant Secretary of Agriculture from December 1953 until his resignation on December 16, 1954, and was a member of the Civil Aeronautics Board from February 25, 1955, until April 15, 1956. He was a judge for the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma from 1956 until his death.

Death

Rizley died in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, on March 4, 1969 (age 76 years, 242 days). He is interred at Elmhurst Cemetery, Guymon, Oklahoma.