Thomas Wells/The Associated Press
JACKSON, Mississippi (AP) — A spokeswoman says U.S. Rep. Alan Nunnelee of Mississippi, a fiscal and social conservative elected to Congress in a Republican wave of 2010, has died. He was 56.
Elizabeth Parks, the spokeswoman in Nunnelee’s congressional office, said he died Friday in his hometown of Tupelo, Mississippi.
Numerous state and federal officials released statement’s Friday on Nunnelee’s passing, including President Barack Obama.
“Michelle and I were saddened to learn of the passing of Representative Alan Nunnelee,” Obama said. “Alan represented the people of his beloved Mississippi for two decades, first as a state senator and then in Congress.
“A proud son of Tupelo, Alan never wavered in his determination to serve the men and women who placed their trust in him, even as he bravely battled the illness that ultimately took his life. As a Sunday School teacher and a deacon at his church, Alan believed deeply in the power of faith and the strength of American families.
“Today, our thoughts and prayers are with Alan’s family – his wife Tori, their children and grandchildren, and all those who loved him.”
In June 2014, Nunnelee had a stroke while surgeons were removing a brain tumor. In December, Nunnelee was hospitalized in Tupelo for treatment of a bleeding problem in his left leg. He was too ill to go to Washington in early January to be sworn in for his third two-year term. House leaders let him take his oath from a federal judge in Mississippi.
In 2010, Nunnelee unseated Democrat Travis Childers, who had held north Mississippi’s 1st District seat since mid-2008.
“We have lost a true public servant with the passing of Alan Nunnelee, who dedicated so much of his life to improving Mississippi,” said U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran of Mississippi. “I am grateful for his friendship and all he accomplished for our state. My thoughts and prayers are with Tori and the entire Nunnelee family at this sad time.”
