Gasconade County Republican

Presiding Commissioner Jost succumbs to cancer

Wednesday, 17 October 2012 17:23 Dave Marner

Presiding Gasconade County Commissioner Ron Jost’s death early Friday morning at his Owensville home leaves a void in county government which will be filled by appointment of Gov. Jay Nixon.
Jost’s third 4-year term as presiding commissioner is not scheduled to expire until Dec. 31, 2014. Jost died surrounded by family at around 1:30 a.m. Oct. 12, nine months after being diagnosed with cancer.

County Clerk Lesa Lietzow said she notified Gov. Jay Nixon’s office on Friday morning of Jost’s death, as required by state statutes when a vacancy arises. She followed up the telephone call with a letter, sent by facsimile later Friday, as required by the governor’s staff.
Lietzow said the Secretary of State’s office had protocol for filling an unexpired term of office in case of resignation, or death, while the term is in progress. Chairmen of both the Republican and Democratic parties in Gasconade County will be notified that a nomination period is to be advertised by each of the respective parties.
Nominations may be accepted through the respective political party officials or may be made directly to the governor’s office.
“There is no statutory time frame to do this,” Lietzow said adding that the governor’s staff “will be in contact with the (county’s) party chairs.”
Sharon Fennewald, a Route NN resident outside of Hermann in the Swiss community, chairs the Republican party’s Central Committee. She may be reached at (573) 486-2350.
Susan Cole, a Danz Road resident outside of Rosebud, chair’s the Democratic party’s committee. She may be reached at (573) 764-4167, on her cell phone at (314) 550-6179, or via email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
Nominations for a successor may also be made directly to the Governor’s office through an online application process.
“I am sorry to hear about the Presiding Commissioner’s passing away,” said Scott Holste, press secretary for Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon. “We encourage residents who are interested in this position to submit an application to the Governor’s office for consideration.”
Applications can be submitted online through this page: https://boardsapp.mo.gov/UserPages/Login.aspx.
Holste said the user will need to create a log-in name. Hard copies of the application also may be obtained by contacting the state’s Boards and Commissions office through the information found online at https://boardsapp.mo.gov/UserPages/ContactUs.aspx.
“Traditionally with these county elected positions, the county central committee of both major parties will meet to make recommendations to submit to the Governor,” Holste said. “The Governor certainly can consider those recommendations, but is not bound to choose from those two. There is not a set timetable on making the appointment, and the appointment will be announced by this office.”
Jost had surgery in early February to remove a cancerous gallbladder. Additional cancer was discovered in his abdominal cavity. He underwent a series of chemotherapy treatments in the spring but discontinued those after becoming too ill to continue taking them.
During a July 11 commission session in Hermann, county employees and elected officials visited with Jost over donuts following the meeting. It would his last visit to the courthouse in Hermann.
The last meeting he was able to attend was Aug. 1 in Owensville.
Lietzow said Jost had been keeping up with his county correspondences on a weekly basis up until about three weeks ago when his illness progressed to the point where he was no linger able to do so. Lietzow said Southern District Commissioner Jerry Lairmore had been delivering Jost his county mail throughout the illness.
“Ron remained active in county business up until just a couple of weeks ago,” said Lietzow.
She said Tuesday she was checking with auditors to clarify final disbursement of his commission salary. She said she expected to be told to make a final payment prorated up until his death. Presiding Commissioners are paid $29,390 a year. Associate Commissioners receive $27,390 a year.
Jost was buried Monday at Owensville City .