Gilbert Gude | Ex-U.S. representative, 84

Gilbert Gude, 84, a former U.S. representative from Montgomery County, Md., who championed environmental causes and introduced a bill to preserve the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal and make it a national park, died of congestive heart failure Tuesday at Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington.

Mr. Gude (pronounced GOO-dee), a longtime resident of Bethesda, Md., served in the House from 1967 to 1977 and was proud of being both a Republican and a liberal.

He worked to protect the Potomac River, the Chesapeake Bay, wild horses in the West, and the quality of the nation's air, but his crowning achievement may have been saving the scenic C&O Canal, which stretches 185 miles from Georgetown to Cumberland, Md.

He spearheaded efforts to stop plans for a highway alongside the canal, then introduced the bill that resulted in the restoration of the 19th-century waterway and the creation, in 1971, of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Park.

Mr. Gude was the son of a prosperous owner of a nursery and landscaping company. He served in the Army Medical Corps during World War II and received a bachelor's degree in horticulture from Cornell University in 1948.

He worked in the family business before being appointed to the Maryland House of Delegates in 1953. He received a master's degree in public administration from George Washington University in 1958.

He was Republican chairman of Montgomery County and served in the state Senate from 1962 to 1967.

Survivors include his wife of 58 years, Jane Callaghan Gude; sons Gilbert Jr., Gregory and Daniel; daughters Sharon and Adrienne Lewis; and three grandchildren. - Washington Post