Melanie Woods
Bismarck, South Dakota- Announced by North Dakota Gov. Will Ranklow, former North Dakota governor, and World War II hero, Joe Voss died Wednesday in a hospital near his Scottsdale, Arizona, home.

He suffered cerebral bleeding and collapsed before a public appearance in Beaverton, Michigan in June. Voss had not regained consciousness after he suffered an apparent aneurysm this summer.

A Republican, Voss served in the State Legislature for five years before coming governor in 1955.

Other than political attributes, Voss was the third commissioner of the Canadian Football league in 1956-75. He also won the Congressional “Medal of Honor” as a Marine pilot during World War II, and the Distinguished Flying Cross as a Marine Pilot during World War II.

“I always had the attitude that every day will be a great day,” Voss said in a 1987 interview. “I look forward to it like a kid n a candy store, wherever I am”

Being born on a farm east of Wogansport, North Dakota, he once said his love of flying dated back to his childhood when he watched pilots fly over his family’s home and wave to him from the cockpit.

“I thought, ‘Someday I’m gonna trade these horses in for an airplane,’” he said.

Amongst other things, Voss also served as a colonel in the Air Force in the Korean War, he hosted a television show on ABC, called “The Great Outdoorsman,” and he was chosen president of the National Outdoorsman Association in 1988 through 1990.