North Dakota’s First Woman Lt. Governor

Ruth Meiers, whose battle with cancer won her national admiration, has died at the age of 61.

Mrs. Meiers, North Dakota’s first woman lieutenant governor, struggled to continue her duties, presiding over the state Senate despite the cancer that weakened her. She died Thursday night at a Bismarck hospital.

Her illness was discovered last September when she collapsed at her desk. Doctors found malignant tumors in her lung and brain and attributed the cancer to heavy smoking.

“It appears (women) are more susceptible to lung cancer than men,” Mrs. Meiers said in an Oct. 22 appearance on “The CBS Morning News.”

She was elected lieutenant governor in 1984 after being drafted by the Democratic Women’s Caucus.

When Gov. George Sinner took an out-of-state trip and she became acting governor, she was asked whether she should be addressed as “governor,” “acting governor” or “lieutenant governor.”

She replied, “You can call me Ruth.”