Former Kentucky Governor, Edward T. “Ned” Breathitt dies

Former Kentucky Governor Edward T. “Ned” Breathitt died October 14, 2003 at the age of 78.
Breathitt was at the UK Hospital, where he was admitted after collapsing from an abnormal heart rhythm during a dinner speech at the school. He had been in a coma.
A memorial service for him was held October 17, 2003 in the Capitol Rotunda at Frankfort, after which his body laid in state. Burial was in Hopkinsville’s Riverside Cemetery.
Breathitt served three terms in the Kentucky General Assembly before being elected Governor of the Commonwealth in 1963. During his term as governor Kentucky made significant strides in civil rights. Breathitt was honored with the Lincoln Key Award in 1966 for his leadership in the passage of the state’s civil rights bill.
U.S. senator Mitch McConnell said, “One of the things I will always admire about Governor Breathitt is that even when he no longer held elective office he sought countless opportunities to contribute to the public good. His was a lifetime of service to the Commonwealth he loved. A greater legacy than that I cannot imagine.”