Bruce & Alice King

Bruce and Alice King

Former Gov. Bruce King – often called the “cowboy governor” – died this morning. He was 85.

“Bruce King would be the first one to tell us all that death is just another phase in the cycle of life and that we must go on with our lives, trying to do the best we can while helping others make their way too,” said his son, Attorney General Gary King, in a prepared statement.

“None of us in the family thought this day would come so soon after we lost my mom, Alice King, but we are comforted by the thought that Bruce and Alice can be together once again,” Gary King said.

Alice King died in December.

Bruce King, a Democrat, served three, non-consecutive terms as governor — from 1971 to 1975, 1979 to 1983, and 1991 to 1995. He was with family at his ranch in Stanley when he died.

His family is asking that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the New Mexico Children’s Foundation, which Alice King founded.

State Sen. Mary Kay Papen, D-Las Cruces, said she was saddened to learn of Bruce King’s death. Her late husband and the former governor were close friends.

“He was called the cowboy governor, and there’s something to the honesty, and the straightforwardness, and the friendliness that the cowboy brings,” Papen said. “I think he epitomized that.”

King was born in 1924 in Stanley. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II. He got his start in politics in 1954, serving two terms as a county commissioner in Santa Fe.

In 1959, he won a state House seat. He served five terms as a state representative – three of them as House speaker.

King also served as chairman of the state Democratic Party.

“Bruce King will always be one of our greatest New Mexicans,” U.S. Rep. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., said in a news release. “Governor King was so kind, and he served the state in so many ways.  He will truly be missed.”

In addition to his son Gary, King is survived by another son, Bill; his brothers, Sam and Don; and other family members.