13-05-2025
Former Missouri Governor, Senator Christopher ‘Kit' Bond dies
ST. LOUIS – Former Missouri Governor and U.S. Senator Christopher 'Kit' Bond died Tuesday in St. Louis at age 86, Governor Mike Kehoe announced.
Kehoe has ordered all U.S. and Missouri flags to be flown at half-staff at all government buildings and grounds across the state from Tuesday until Bond is buried.
In a statement, Kehoe described Bond as 'a skilled statesman' and ''fierce advocate for Missouri.'
Kit Bond was a skilled statesman, public servant, and a man who truly loved Missouri. I am blessed to have known Kit and honored to call him a friend and a mentor.
Kit, always with his trademark smile and sense of humor, was a fierce advocate for Missouri throughout his accomplished 40-year career of public service. Kit kept Missouri's interests at heart, both in office and out, making our state a better place to live, work, and raise a family. Whenever he was thanked for his service, Kit's response was always, 'Serving the people of Missouri was the honor of my life.'
His legacy as a 'favorite son' to his beloved State of Missouri lives on through all he achieved for his home state. Kit touched the lives of so many men and women throughout his career, and today I join them in grieving the loss of a good man. Just as they will miss their friend and mentor, so will I. On behalf of all Missourians, Claudia and I share our deepest condolences and offer our prayers for his wife Linda, his son Sam, and the entire Bond family.
Statement from Governor Mike Kehoe
A cause of death was not announced. Additional details on memorial services will be announced later Tuesday.
Bond attended Deerfield Academy, a college preparatory boarding school in Massachusetts, and graduated from Princeton University in 1960 with an A.B. from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. He graduated from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1963, finishing top of his class.
After practicing law in Washington, D.C. from 1964 to 1967, Bond moved that fall to Mexico, Missouri, his maternal grandfather's hometown. He first sought public office in 1968, in an unsuccessful attempt to unseat incumbent Democrat Bill Hungate for his spot in the U.S. House of Representatives. The following year, Missouri Attorney General John Danforth appointed Bond to lead the Consumer Protection Division.
In 1970, Bond defeated long-time incumbent Haskell Holman to become Missouri State Auditor. Bond was 31.
Just two years later, Bond made history by winning the governorship, becoming the first Republican governor in Missouri in 28 years, and, at 33, the youngest governor in state history.
Bond was born in St. Louis on March 6, 1939.
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