Former 6-term Missouri US Rep. Bill Burlison dies at age 88

WARDELL, Mo. – Bill Burlison, a former six-term congressman from southeast Missouri, has died.

Officials at Morgan Funeral Home in Advance on Tuesday confirmed the death of Burlison. He was 88. No cause of death was given.

The Southeast Missourian reports that Burlison died Sunday at his home in Wardell.

Burlison was first elected in 1968. The Democrat lost his bid for a seventh term in 1980 to Republican Bill Emerson at a time when southeast Missouri was trending toward the GOP. The region is now overwhelmingly Republican.

Burlison was a Marine Corps veteran who served as an assistant Missouri attorney general and Cape Girardeau County prosecutor before his election to Congress.

He is survived by his wife, two sons, a daughter, six grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

___

Information from: Southeast Missourian, http://www.semissourian.com