Finney, Joan, 1925-2001

<p>Joan Finney was the first female to serve as Governor of Kansas. Finney was born in 1925 in Topeka to Leonard and Mary Sands McInroy. She earned a bachelor's degree from Washburn University, Topeka.</p>

<p>She married Spencer W. Finney, Jr., on July 24, 1957, in Topeka, Kansas. She began her long political career as a staff member in the Topeka and Washington, D.C. offices of U.S. Senator Frank Carlson. She served in this position from 1953-1969.</p>

<p>Her next position was as commissioner of elections for Shawnee County which she held from 1970-1972, then as administrative assistant to the Topeka mayor, 1973-1974.</p>

<p>She was elected to serve as Kansas State Treasurer from 1972-1986. Finney became the first female to hold that position and the longest-serving Kansas state treasurer. Finney served as Governor of Kansas from 1991-1995.</p>

<p>Joan Finney died in 2001.</p>

JOAN FINNEY was born in Topeka, Kansas; she earned her bachelor’s degree in economic history from Washburn University of Topeka. She served on the staff of former U.S. Senator Frank Carlson in his Washington, D.C. and Topeka offices in 1953-1969. She was commissioner of elections of Shawnee County in 1970-1972. She worked as administrative assistant to the mayor of Topeka in 1973-1974 and was acting director of the Topeka Housing Authority. She was elected state treasurer in 1974 and was reelected in 1976, 1978, 1982, and 1986. She was elected Governor of Kansas in January 1991.

<p>Joan Finney (February 12, 1925 – July 28, 2001) was an American politician who served as the 42nd Governor of Kansas from 1991 to 1995, the first woman to hold that office. She had previously served four terms as the Kansas State Treasurer from 1975 to 1991, the first woman to hold that office as well.</p>

<p>She was born Joan Marie McInroy in Topeka, Kansas, the daughter of Leonard and Mary Sands McInroy. Her father abandoned the family shortly after her birth. She graduated from high school in Manhattan, Kansas, in 1942. In 1957, she married Spencer Finney, Jr., and had three children, Sarah "Sally" Finney Timm, Richard Finney, and Mary Finney Holladay. In 1978, she graduated from Washburn University with a degree in economic history.</p>

<p>From 1953 to 1969, Finney served on the staff of Republican U.S. Senator Frank Carlson. From 1970 to 1972, she served as Commissioner of Elections for Shawnee County, Kansas. In 1972, running as a Republican, she was an unsuccessful candidate for a U.S. House seat in Kansas's 2nd congressional district. She also served as a Special Assistant to Topeka Mayor Bill McCormick.</p>