Siets DeVries Kamp (1902-1971)

Portrait from the Illinois Blue Book, 1949-50.

    Two-term Illinois state representative Siets DeVries Kamp is certainly one of the more obscure men to serve in the Illinois state house, and his name is also one of the most unique. Born of Dutch extraction in Watseka, Illinois on February 18, 1902, Siets D. Kamp was one of eleven children born to Peter (1857-1940)  and Jennie Dorenbos Kamp (1860-1930). 

  A student in the public schools of Watseka, Kamp is believed to have been a lifelong bachelor. While information regarding Mr. Kamp is sorely lacking online, the Illinois Blue Book notes that for twelve years he operated an insurance agency and was later employed as a personnel officer at the Kankakee and Manteno State Hospitals in Kankakee County.

  An active Republican in Iroquois County, Siets Kamp served as Secretary of the Iroquois County Republican Central Committee and in November 1946 was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives from the 20th district. Taking his seat at the start of the 1947-48 session. Kamp held seats on the following committees: Enrolling, Transcribing and Typing of Bills, Industry and Labor Relations, Motor Vehicles and Traffic Regulations, Public Utilities, Railroads and Aviation, and Personnel and Pensions.

   Siets D. Kamp won his second term in the Illinois statehouse in November 1948 and during the 1949-50 session continued service on the committee on Public Utilities, Railroads and Aviation and was named to two new committees, those being Roads and Bridges and Waterways, Conservation and Fish and Game. 

  Following his service in state government, Kamp returned to Watseka, where in the early 1960s he was listed as being the owner of a photographic studio. Siets D. Kamp died on January 28, 1971, at age 68. He was later interred at the Oak Hill Cemetery in Watseka, the same resting place as that of his parents.