(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds has announced flags flying at half staff today (Thursday) on state owned facilities are being lowered to honor former Vice President Dick Cheney as well as a Marshalltown lawyer who served in the Iowa Senate for a dozen years.

Former state Senator Larry McKibben died Sunday at the age of 78. He graduated from the University of Northern Iowa in 1970 with a political science degree and earning a law degree from the University of Iowa in 1972, McKibben returned to his hometown of Marshalltown to practice law. He was first elected to the Iowa Senate in 1996 and served three terms before retiring from the legislature in early 2009. McKibben later served six years on the Board of Regents and led a task force that examined tuition costs at the three state universities.

Former State Senator Larry McKibben (R-Marshalltown) (Board of Regents photo)

McKibben’s funeral will be held at one o’clock this (Thursday) afternoon at the First Methodist Church in Marshalltown. Flags nationally will remain lowered until sunset on November 20th, the day of former Vice President Cheney’s funeral.