Don Edwards | Former congressman, 100
Former U.S. Rep. Don Edwards, 100, a fierce champion of civil rights and the environment during his three decades in Washington, died in his sleep Thursday night at his home in Carmel, Calif., his son Leonard said.
Former U.S. Rep. Don Edwards, 100, a fierce champion of civil rights and the environment during his three decades in Washington, died in his sleep Thursday night at his home in Carmel, Calif., his son Leonard said.
"It was a fully productive life," Leonard Edwards said Friday.
Tributes rolled in for the man who fought for the rights of minorities and women, and helped create an urban wildlife refuge at the southern end of the San Francisco Bay Area.
House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi praised Mr. Edwards and his push for landmark civil rights and voting rights legislation.
He "strived to move our country forward," she said in a statement.
Mr. Edwards graduated from Stanford University and attended Stanford Law School before becoming an FBI agent in 1940. During World War II he served as a naval officer. He was elected to Congress in 1962 and established a reputation as an unabashed liberal and gentleman.
Mr. Edwards joined the Freedom Riders in the 1960s and opposed the Vietnam War. He was chairman of the House Judiciary subcommittee on civil and constitutional rights for more than two decades before retiring in 1995.
He married three times and outlived all of his wives.
His survivors include four sons. - AP