8/1/11 – Wisconsin’s longest-serving elected official turned 93 yesterday. Dodge County Supervisor Joe Ready of Watertown has been on his county board for 57 years. He also spent over two decades on the Watertown City Council. Ready is a life-long resident of Dodge County, except when he was born in 1918 at the Watertown hospital. That’s barely on the other side of the Dodge-Jefferson county line. Ready was 89 when the Wisconsin Counties Association honored him in 2007 for his years of service. He says the key to his longevity is “dedication.” Wisconsin Senate Democrat Fred Risser of Madison is often mentioned as the nation’s longest-serving state lawmaker. But he’s a relative pup compared to Ready. Risser is nine years younger at age 84 — and he’s now in his 55th year in the Legislature.
