Hawkeye Reporter

Iowa lost "an incredible man" when Republican Iowa state Rep. John Landon passed away late last month, Gov. Kim Reynolds said in a social media post this past weekend.

"When John Landon spoke, people listened," Reynolds said in her Saturday, July 31, Facebook post. "He was known as a trusted, genuine, caring person always willing to put others before himself. During his time in the Iowa Legislature, he brought his strong convictions and work ethic to the job every single day. I have always admired John as someone who will put in the work to get the job done. My deepest condolences go out to his wife, Marvis, his family, and a community that is grieving the loss of this incredible man."

Landon, whose profession was in agriculture and real estate, was serving his fourth term in Iowa's State House where he'd represented the 37th District since 2013, when he died at 71 on Thursday, July 29 following a months-long battle with cancer.

Born in 1950 and raised near State Center, Landon was a West Marshall High School who went on to earn a bachelor's degree in agriculture business from Iowa State University and was a Navy Seabee, serving in Vietnam. He was a member of the Ankeny Area Chamber of Commerce and was a longtime leader in Polk County Republicans. He was a Cub Scout Pack 87 and Boy Scout Troop 188 leader for about a dozen years and was a deacon and stewardship committee leader at Cornerstone Baptist Church in Ankeny.

His wife posted to Facebook, shortly after her husband's passing, that he'd died at 3:45 p.m.

"John Landon entered into Glory surrounded by love of his family," Marvis Landon said in the post. "With great faith, we know that he was received into Heaven as a good and faithful servant. He fearlessly knew that God has a plan for him. We will profoundly miss our Husband Father and Grandfather until we see him again."

The governor was only one of many Iowa politicians who expressed themselves in social media following Landon's passing.

"Representative John Landon was the definition of a citizen legislator," U.S. House Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, who represents Iowa's 2nd congressional district, said in her own Facebook post. "His commitment to his family, Iowans, and the constitution was unquestionable."

Miller-Meeks added that she and her husband, Curt Meeks, would keep Landon's "family, friends, and loved ones in our thoughts and prayers."