J. Stanley Kimmitt, a retired Army colonel, Democratic political consultant and former Secretary of the Senate, died Dec. 7 after he collapsed during a Democratic Leadership Council reception for retiring Sen. John Breaux (La.). He was 86.

Born April 5, 1918, in Lewistown, Mont., he served in the Army in both World War II and the Korean War. After earning his bachelor’s from Utah State University in 1957, he went back to the Army, serving in Europe. He spent three terms as the Army liaison to the Senate and retired in 1966 as a colonel.

Kimmitt left the Army but stuck with the Senate as he became secretary for the majority when then-Sen. Mike Mansfield (D-Mont.) served as Majority Leader. Eleven years later, Kimmitt became Secretary of the Senate and served in that post from 1977 to 1981.

In 1991, Kimmitt founded the political consulting firm Kimmitt, Senter, Coates & Weinfurter.

Kimmitt is survived by his wife, Eunice Wegener Kimmitt, three sons, two daughters, 12 grandchildren and a great-grandson.

— Jennifer Lash