
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, May 29, 1990                   TAG: 9005290157
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NEWARK, N.J.                                LENGTH: Short

FORMER N.J. GOVERNOR DIES

Robert B. Meyner, a country lawyer who became New Jersey's first governor elected to successive four-year terms, has died after a long illness. He was 81.

Meyner, who gained national attention during his terms in office from 1954 to 1962, had been in declining health since suffering a stroke in 1986. He died in his sleep Sunday at his home in Captiva, Fla., said his wife, Helen.

"He lived a very full, rich life, giving an awful lot to a lot of people," Mrs. Meyner said Monday by telephone from Captiva.

A Democrat, Meyner campaigned tirelessly to win the state's highest office at a time when Republicans dominated state government. He was the first Democratic governor since 1940.

A fiscal conservative, Meyner was credited with keeping a balanced state budget, and with ably administering basic state needs such as water supply and land management. He oversaw the completion of the New Jersey Turnpike in the mid-1950s.

His success in the state put him in demand for speaking engagements across the country.

From 1958 to early 1960, he was considered a possibility for the Democratic nomination for president.

by CNB