Two decades after a tragic plane crash killed three members of Missouri’s government — including the governor himself — a bill is on the floor to honor one of the lost.
Colleagues and family of Chris Sifford, an advisor to the late Gov. Mel Carnahan, have proposed Chris Sifford Day in his memory. Sifford was a native of Puxico who perished alongside Carnahan and his son, Randy Carnahan, when their Cessna 335 crashed in bad weather on Oct. 16, 2000. If passed, the bill would designate Sifford’s birthday, Aug. 6, as Chris Sifford Day.
The bill was submitted by Sen. Greg Razer and co-sponsored by Sen. Tracy McCreery. But inspiration came from Sifford’s cousin Tyler Travers, a former aid to Razer and the current Missouri Senate Chief of Staff.
“There’s a lot of memorial days that are filed every year or so, and I just figured it would be a good way to remember him,” said Travers.
An article from the Missouri Independent said the Senate Progress and Development Committee held a hearing on the bill and combined it with another proposed day honoring St. Patrick Center founder Edith Cunnane. The report stated the committee approved the combined bill. Travers explained the next step forward will be a debate in the Senate, but a date has yet to be set.
Travers was 4 years old when Sifford passed away. But even so many years later, people remember Sifford as a positive force in politices who was destined for great things.
“Everyone revered him growing up and now it’s a little surreal that I work in the building that he used to,” Travers said. “And I can’t imagine what advice he would give me if he were here today.”
Travers, is from Poplar Bluff, wanted to go into legislature from a young age. He attended the University of Missouri in Columbia and moved to Kansas City for his postgrad studies. There he met Razer, who was a state representative at the time. Razer offered him a position as a legislative assistant in 2018. Today, Travers has five sessions in the Capitol under his belt and is in his first year as Chief of Staff in the Senate.
He appreciates the parallels between his and Sifford’s respective careers, he said.
“I do think it’s really neat that Chris was from Southeast Missouri. He’s from Puxico, and I’m from Poplar Bluff, and now we both moved up to work for people who represent in larger areas and in Jefferson City. And in some ways (we) try to give back to our rural communities as well.”
The more people Travers meets in his line work, the more stories he hears about Sifford.
“I have a picture of Chris here, and so many longtime staffers and lobbyists come in the office and they look at the picture ...and they all have different stories about how he was the nicest guy, or the smartest guy, and I just wanted to show that he was appreciated. I think a lot of people thought highly of him,” Travers explained.