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Omer Lee Hirst
Lawmaker, investor
Former state Sen. Omer Lee Hirst of McLean died following an apparent heart attack Tuesday, July 29, as he was riding in a car with his caretaker on Dolley Madison Boulevard (Route 123). He was 89.
Fairfax County Police Officer Jacqi Smith said Hirst’s caretaker called 911 at about 3:25 p.m. Police and rescue units responded, and the senator was taken to Arlington Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
A lifelong resident of Fairfax County, he was bom in Annandale. He was a descendant of the family of George Mason, author of the Declaration of Rights that became part of the U.S. Constitution.
As a legislator, he was the first member of the General Assembly to announce his opposition to the “Massive Resistance” policy that threatened to close public schools after integration was ordered.
In 1950, he departed from the “pay-as-you-go” policy and led an unprecedented county drive in support of a $10 million school construction bond issue.
In the General Assembly, with former state Sen. Robert C. Fitzgerald, he helped to win adoption of the county executive form of government and helped establish an area mental hospital.
He lived in McLean and had another home in Palm Beach, Fla.
He graduated magna cum laude from Washington and Lee University in 1936 and served in the Marine Corps in World Warll.
After the war, he joined his father, Mason Hirst, 'owner of about 200 acres in the county, in the real estate business and launched into civic work. He was honored with the outstanding citizen award of the Washington Star in 1962.
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