Rest in Peace, Representative Matsui
I liked him a lot.
Rep. Matsui dies of pneumonia
By Sam Stanton -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 11:02 am PST Sunday, January 2, 2005
U.S. Rep. Robert T. Matsui, a Sacramento native and Democratic leader who had represented the region in Congress since 1979, died Saturday night in Washington, D.C., after being hospitalized last week for pneumonia. He was 63.
Matsui, who was re-elected to his 14th term in November with 71 percent of the vote, died at the Bethesda Naval Hospital at 10:10 p.m. while surrounded by his family, according to a statement his office issued earlier today.
Matsui was one of the most prominent and senior Democrats in the Congress, and was elected two years ago to head the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which seeks to elect Democrats to the House.
He was the third ranking member on the House Ways and Means Committee and the ranking Democrat on the Social Security Subcommittee.
Matsui's death came as a shock to many, but he had been battling illness since several months ago, when his office said he had been diagnosed with a rare stem cell disorder, Myelodysplastic Disorder. The illness reduces the ability of an individual to produce red blood cells and cuts a person's immune system's ability to fight off illness.
Matsui's office said his pneumonia was a result of the disorder. The congressman is survived by his wife, Doris; his son, Brian; daughter-in-law, Amy; and a granddaughter, Anna.
"Bob wanted me to express his most profound gratitude to all those he had the honor to serve and who made his life so extraordinary," his wife said in a statement.
Matsui's rise to national political prominence was remarkable. He was born in Sacramento in September 1941 to a Japanese-American family, and a few months later, after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, he and his family were sent to an internee camp to sit out World War II.
He returned to Sacramento and graduated from C.K. McClatchy Senior High School in 1959, then went on to earn a political science degree at the University of California, Berkeley, in 1963 and a law degree from Berkeley’s Hastings College of Law in 1966, ranking 34th in a class of 260.
Matsui opened a private law practice in Sacramento in 1967 and won a seat on the City Council in 1971. He announced his candidacy for Congress in 1978 in a six-sentence typed statement in which he promised to "try to do what is, in the broadest sense of the word, in the public interest."
Matsui was re-elected every two years after that, rarely facing anything more than token opposition.
Services for the congressman have not been announced, but his family asked that donations be sent to a charity it is establishing: The Matsui Foundation for Public Service, Box 1347, Sacramento, CA 95812.
Rep. Matsui dies of pneumonia
By Sam Stanton -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 11:02 am PST Sunday, January 2, 2005
U.S. Rep. Robert T. Matsui, a Sacramento native and Democratic leader who had represented the region in Congress since 1979, died Saturday night in Washington, D.C., after being hospitalized last week for pneumonia. He was 63.
Matsui, who was re-elected to his 14th term in November with 71 percent of the vote, died at the Bethesda Naval Hospital at 10:10 p.m. while surrounded by his family, according to a statement his office issued earlier today.
Matsui was one of the most prominent and senior Democrats in the Congress, and was elected two years ago to head the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which seeks to elect Democrats to the House.
He was the third ranking member on the House Ways and Means Committee and the ranking Democrat on the Social Security Subcommittee.
Matsui's death came as a shock to many, but he had been battling illness since several months ago, when his office said he had been diagnosed with a rare stem cell disorder, Myelodysplastic Disorder. The illness reduces the ability of an individual to produce red blood cells and cuts a person's immune system's ability to fight off illness.
Matsui's office said his pneumonia was a result of the disorder. The congressman is survived by his wife, Doris; his son, Brian; daughter-in-law, Amy; and a granddaughter, Anna.
"Bob wanted me to express his most profound gratitude to all those he had the honor to serve and who made his life so extraordinary," his wife said in a statement.
Matsui's rise to national political prominence was remarkable. He was born in Sacramento in September 1941 to a Japanese-American family, and a few months later, after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, he and his family were sent to an internee camp to sit out World War II.
He returned to Sacramento and graduated from C.K. McClatchy Senior High School in 1959, then went on to earn a political science degree at the University of California, Berkeley, in 1963 and a law degree from Berkeley’s Hastings College of Law in 1966, ranking 34th in a class of 260.
Matsui opened a private law practice in Sacramento in 1967 and won a seat on the City Council in 1971. He announced his candidacy for Congress in 1978 in a six-sentence typed statement in which he promised to "try to do what is, in the broadest sense of the word, in the public interest."
Matsui was re-elected every two years after that, rarely facing anything more than token opposition.
Services for the congressman have not been announced, but his family asked that donations be sent to a charity it is establishing: The Matsui Foundation for Public Service, Box 1347, Sacramento, CA 95812.