JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Former U.S. Sen. Jean Carnahan, who became the first senator to represent Missouri after being appointed to replace her husband following his death, died Tuesday. She was 90 years old.
Carnahan was appointed to the Senate in 2001 after the posthumous election of her husband, Governor Mel Carnahan, and served until 2002.
“Mom passed away peacefully after a long and rich life. She was a fearless pioneer. “She was brilliant, creative, compassionate and dedicated to her family and her fellow Missourians,” her family said in a statement.
His family did not specify the cause of death, but said Carnahan died after a brief illness at a hospice in suburban St. Louis.
Carnahan was born on December 20, 1933 in Washington, DC and grew up in the nation’s capital. His father worked as a plumber and his mother as a hairdresser.
She met Mel Carnahan, the son of a Missouri congressman, at a church event, and they became better acquainted after sitting next to each other in a high school class, according to information provided by the family. They married on June 12, 1954.
Jean Carnahan graduated a year later from George Washington University with a bachelor’s degree in business and public administration, and they later raised four children on a farm near Rolla, Missouri.
She served as first lady of Missouri after her husband’s election as governor in 1992 and during his two terms.
On October 16, 2000, the governor, the couple’s son, Roger, and an aide died in a plane crash. After Mel Carnahan was posthumously elected three weeks later, acting Governor Roger Wilson appointed Jean Carnahan to fill the seat left vacant by the death of her husband.
He served from January 3, 2001 to November 25, 2002.
Following his appointment, Carnahan gave a speech on the Senate floor highlighting his tragic path to the chamber.
“My name has never been on a ballot. On election night there was no victory celebration,” she said. You are here for your victory. I am here for my loss. But we are all here to do the work of this great nation.”
Carnahan authored seven books, including two about the Missouri governor’s mansion and an autobiography that focused on her years as first lady and senator.
A private family service will be held at Carson Hill Cemetery near Ellsinore, Missouri, where Carnahan’s husband and son are buried. A public service is being planned in St. Louis and details are expected to be announced later.