FORMER GOVERNOR RESTING AFTER SURGERY

CHARLESTON -- Former Missouri governor Warren E. Hearnes spent Thanksgiving Day recuperating in a private hospital room after undergoing open-heart surgery a day earlier.

Hearnes, 73, a Charleston native, was the first Missouri governor to be elected to two consecutive terms.

He was admitted to Southeast Missouri Hospital Monday after complaining of chest pains. He underwent multiple-bypass surgery on Wednesday and was moved from the intensive care unit to a private room Thursday morning. The family had not been given a release date Thursday afternoon.

Daughter Lynn Hearnes said her father was "doing just fine" Thursday afternoon. He was able to move around and spent the afternoon watching football games on television.

"He's walking and sitting in a chair and, so far, doing all of the things he's supposed to be doing," she said. "Right now he is resting and watching the football game."

Hearnes, graduated from Charleston High School in 1941. Seven years later he married Betty Cooper there, and 10 years later he opened a law office in the town.

He is a U.S. Army veteran who has practiced law since 1952.

He has been involved in community service for more than 40 years. He has held numerous state political offices, including Mississippi County state representative, Majority Floor Leader of the House of Representatives and Secretary of State.

In 1964 he was elected to his first of two terms as governor. His accomplishments while in office include increasing state aid for education, establishing 38 sheltered workshop programs and nine regional clinics for the mentally retarded, and setting up several scholarships for the needy.

On June 1 he retired after serving 16 years as executive director of Southeast Missouri Legal Services Inc., an organization which provides legal aid to about 4,000 indigent in Southeast Missouri each year.