Orvin Benonie FJARE, Congress, MT (1918)

FJARE Orvin Benonie , a Representative from Montana; born on a ranch near Big Timber, Sweet Grass County, Mont., April 16, 1918; attended public schools; employed as a clerk in a clothing store at Big Timber, Mont., and later became part owner; enlisted as a private in the United States Army in 1940; commissioned a second lieutenant of Artillery in 1942; served as a pilot in the South Pacific and was discharged as a captain in 1946; member of the Montana Public Welfare Commission 1952-1954; member of board of trustees of Big Timber Public Schools 1951-1954; elected as a Republican to the Eighty-fourth Congress (January 3, 1955-January 3, 1957); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1956 to the Eighty-fifth Congress; member of State house of representatives in 1959; engaged in the life insurance business; unsuccessful candidate for election to the United States Senate in 1960; advertising director, Montana State Highway Department, 1962-1969; director of Montana Federal Housing Administration 1970-1979; died on June 27, 2011, in Helena, Mont.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present