Jan. 1, 1963 - Senator Robert S. Kerr (pictured in the 1940s), Democrat of Oklahoma, collapsed and died today of a coronary occlusion in Doctors Hospital in Washington, D.C. He was 66 years old. Senator Kerr, one of the most powerful men in the Senate, had been a patient in the hospital since Dec. 16, when he was admitted for treatment of a respiratory ailment. A day later, doctors said he had suffered narrowing of a coronary artery and would be kept in bed for treatment. Senator Kerr was sitting on the side of his bed today talking with Dr. James L. Keating when he suddenly fell over. He died within minutes at 10:50 a.m. Doctors said that death was the result of a coronary occlusion — a blocking of an artery in the heart. His death leaves the political makeup of the Senate at 66 Democrats and 33 Republicans. In Palm Beach, Fla., President Kennedy expressed shock at the death of Senator Kerr.
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