Wesley Lance

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American politician (1908–2007)

title: "Wesley Lance" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1908-births", "2007-deaths", "lutherans-from-new-jersey", "lafayette-college-alumni", "harvard-law-school-alumni", "republican-party-members-of-the-new-jersey-general-assembly", "lawyers-from-hunterdon-county,-new-jersey", "republican-party-new-jersey-state-senators", "people-from-glen-gardner,-new-jersey", "presidents-of-the-new-jersey-senate", "20th-century-american-lawyers", "20th-century-lutherans", "20th-century-members-of-the-new-jersey-legislature"] description: "American politician (1908–2007)" topic_path: "law" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wesley_Lance" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American politician (1908–2007) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox officeholder"]

Field	Value
name	Wesley Lance
office	President of the New Jersey Senate
term_start	1959
term_end	1959
predecessor	Richard R. Stout
successor	George B. Harper
office1	Member of the New Jersey Senate from Hunterdon County
term_start1	1942
term_end1	1944
predecessor1	Arthur F. Foran
successor1	Samuel L. Bodine
term_start2	1954
term_end2	1962
predecessor2	Samuel L. Bodine
successor2	Raymond Bowkley
party	Republican
birth_date	November 21, 1908
birth_place	Glen Gardner, New Jersey
death_date	August 25, 2007 (aged 98)
death_place	Clinton, New Jersey
spouse	Anne Anderson
(m. 1951, d. 1965)
Jeannette Bonnell Gill
(m. 1970, d. 2002)
children	Leonard and James
alma_mater	Lafayette College Harvard Law School
::

Life and career

Lance was born and raised in Glen Gardner, New Jersey, the son of Florence S. (née Smith) and Leonard Arville Lance. He attended Lafayette College and Harvard Law School. He was first elected to the Assembly from Hunterdon County in 1937, and re-elected in 1938, 1939 and 1940, and to the Senate in 1941.

Lance was a delegate to the 1947 constitutional convention that established the current New Jersey State Constitution, and to the 1966 convention that established the current New Jersey Legislature with 40 senators and 80 assemblymembers. He served in the Senate from 1942 to 1943, succeeding Arthur F. Foran, and stepped down to enter the United States Navy. He was reelected to the Senate in 1954 and served until 1962. He was Senate President during the 1959 term.

Lance was a practicing lawyer for 70 years, including 64 years as the municipal attorney of Lebanon Township, New Jersey, and several years for Hunterdon County Counsel.

Family

He married, in 1951 to Anne Anderson, then the Director of the Hunterdon County Welfare Board. She died in 1965. He was married from 1970 until her death in 2002 to Jeannette Bonnell Gill, widow of John F. Gill, chief pilot of Eastern Airlines.

One of his sons, Leonard Lance, served in the Assembly from 1992 to 2002, in the New Jersey Senate from 2002 to 2009, and in the House of Representatives beginning in 2009. James Lance, Leonard's twin brother, is an attorney practicing in Clinton, New Jersey.

Death

Wesley Lance died at age 98, in Clinton, New Jersey. He was survived by both sons, a stepdaughter, a stepson, and four grandchildren. His memorial service was held on August 30, 2007, at the Spruce Run Evangelical Lutheran Zion Church. His children were raised in their mother's Roman Catholic faith.

References

|before=Richard R. Stout |title=President of the New Jersey Senate |years=1959 |after= George B. Harper}}

References

[[Social Security Death Index]] via [http://www.ancestry.com/ Ancestry.com].
[http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~battle/reps/lance.htm Profile], freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com. Accessed August 19, 2022.{{User-generated source. (June 2022)
[https://martinfh.com/tribute/details/321/Wesley-L-Lance/obituary.html Profile], martinfh.com. Accessed August 19, 2022.
Hester Jr., Tom. [http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkxMiZmZ2JlbDdmN3ZxZWVFRXl5NzE4NzI4Ng== "Wesley Lance, 98; in '47 helped craft N.J. Constitution"], ''[[The Record (Bergen County)]]'', August 28, 2007. Accessed August 28, 2007.
''Fitzgerald's Legislative Manual: State of New Jersey (2007)'', Skinder-Strauss Associates, [[Newark, New Jersey]]; {{ISBN. 1-57741-245-1.
(1959-01-14). "An Unassuming Leader; Wesley Leonard Lance". [[The New York Times]].
[https://martinfh.com/tribute/details/321/Wesley-L-Lance/obituary.html Profile], martinfh.com. Accessed August 19, 2022.
Jackson, Herb. [http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkyODgmZmdiZWw3Zjd2cWVlRUV5eTYzMzY1MjAmeXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk5 "Politics, a family business"], ''[[The Record (Bergen County)]]'', February 3, 2003. Accessed July 6, 2007. "Sen. Leonard Lance, R-Hunterdon, is the son and great-nephew of legislators."
[https://martinfh.com/tribute/details/321/Wesley-L-Lance/obituary.html Profile], martinfh.com. Accessed August 19, 2022.
[https://martinfh.com/tribute/details/321/Wesley-L-Lance/obituary.html Profile], martinfh.com. Accessed August 19, 2022.

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