Page Belcher

Page Henry Belcher (April 21, 1899 – August 2, 1980) was a Republican politician and a U.S. Representative from Oklahoma.

Biography
Belcher was born in Jefferson in northern Oklahoma to George Harvey Belcher and Jessie Ray. He was educated at public schools in Jefferson, and Medford, Oklahoma. Belcher attended Friends University, a private non-denominational Christian university in Wichita, Kansas. He served in World War I, then returned to Oklahoma and enrolled at the University of Oklahoma in Norman where he studied law and played for the 1918 Oklahoma Sooners football team.

Career
Following his graduation from OU, he was admitted to the bar in 1936 and began his legal practice in Enid. In 1934, he was elected county clerk of Garfield County, served on the Enid Board of Education, and as secretary to U.S. Rep. Ross Rizley in 1941. From 1951 to 1953, Belcher was the last representative of Oklahoma's now-defunct 8th congressional district, then represented the 1st district until 1973. After his home in Enid was drawn out of the district during a mid-decade redistricting in 1967, Belcher moved to Tulsa, the heart of the 1st. Belcher was a member of the Agriculture Committee and its wheat subcommittee for his entire congressional tenure, eventually rising to ranking Republican on that committee, and worked on the Arkansas River Navigation System.

Belcher usually skated to reelection, as the Tulsa area was (and still is) very friendly to Republicans. However, in 1958, he was nearly defeated due to discontent over the Eisenhower administration's farm policy. He didn't face a credible challenge again until 1970, when former Johnson administration official James R. Jones held him to only 55 percent of the vote. With Jones priming for a rematch in 1972, Belcher announced that June that he was retiring due to age and health.

Personal life
Page Belcher was married on June 16, 1922, to Gladys Collins. The two had a son, Page Jr., and a daughter, Carol. Belcher was a Methodist, a Member of the Kiwanis, American Legion, and Odd Fellows. He was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame. Following his retirement, he moved to Midwest City where he died on August 2, 1980, at the age of eighty-one. He is buried at Memorial Park Cemetery, Enid, Oklahoma. After his retirement from Congress, the federal courthouse in Tulsa was named in his honor. In addition, Tulsa is home to the Page Belcher golf course.