Kenneth A. Schmied

Kenneth A. Schmied
50th Mayor of Louisville
In office
1965–1969
Preceded byWilliam O. Cowger
Succeeded byFrank W. Burke
Personal details
Born(1911-07-18)July 18, 1911
DiedApril 5, 1973(1973-04-05) (aged 61)
Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.
Resting placeCave Hill Cemetery
Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.
PartyRepublican

Kenneth Albert Schmied (July 18, 1911 – April 5, 1973)[a] was an American politician in Kentucky. He served as the mayor of Louisville from 1965 until 1969.[3] He remains the most recent member of the Republican Party to have held the office.

Career

A native of Louisville,[1] Schmied was elected to the city's board of aldermen in 1961 and served as the board's president.[2] He was later "hand picked" by then-mayor William O. Cowger to be his successor.[2] During Schmied's tenure as mayor, a $29.8 million bond issue was used for public works projects including expansion of the city's public library, a site for Jefferson Community College, and medical and dental facilities at the University of Louisville.[2] The city's 1969 mayoral elections saw Democrat Frank W. Burke win the office.[4]

Schmied served in the U.S. Army during World War II, having enlisted in May 1943.[5] He died of a heart attack in 1973 at age 61 while attending a political meeting in Louisville.[6] Schmied is buried in Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville.[6]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Date of birth is per his draft registration card of October 1940;[1] some sources list July 11 rather than July 18.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b "Draft Registration Card". fold3.com. Selective Service System. October 1940. Retrieved November 8, 2025.
  2. ^ United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Banking and Currency. Subcommittee on Housing (1966). Housing Legislation of 1966: Hearings ... Eighty-ninth Congress, Second Session on Proposed Housing Legislation for 1966. U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 408.
  3. ^ "Mayors of Louisville". library.louisville.edu. Archived from the original on April 27, 2007 – via Wayback Machine.
  4. ^ "WWII Army Enlistment Records". fold3.com. National Archives and Records Administration. Retrieved November 8, 2025.
  5. ^ a b "Former Louisville mayor Kenneth A. Schmied dies". Courier Journal. Louisville, Kentucky. April 6, 1973. p. 1. Retrieved November 8, 2025 – via newspapers.com.