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By Associated Press
POSTED: 08:53 a.m. EDT, Aug 21, 2008
Democratic U.S. Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, who died from a brain hemorrhage at age 58, was remembered as a trailblazer whose energy and outspokenness made her one of Congress' most dynamic leaders.Tubbs Jones, the first black woman to represent Ohio in Congress, died Wednesday evening, about 21 hours after an anuerysm caused the hemorrhage Tuesday night. The condition had left her with limited brain function before her death, said Dr. Gus Kious, president of Huron Hospital in East Cleveland where Tubbs Jones died.
Tubbs Jones represented Ohio's heavily Democratic 11th District for five terms. She was the first black woman to serve on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee and the first to serve as a common pleas judge in Ohio.
Former U.S. Rep. Louis Stokes made Tubbs Jones his hand-picked successor in 1998.
"I wanted somebody whom I felt could carry on what I tried to do for 30 years in that congressional district," Stokes said. "She did it. She took it to a higher level, a new level. She made me so proud."
The congresswoman suffered the hemorrhage while driving her car in suburban Cleveland Heights Tuesday night. She had been driving erratically and her vehicle crossed lanes of traffic before coming to a stop, police said. An officer found her.
An aneurysm is a dangerous weakness or bulge in a blood vessel that can leak or rupture, causing bleeding. In Tubbs Jones, the aneurysm burst in an inaccessible part of her brain, Kious said.
Several news organizations, including The Associated Press, had reported earlier Wednesday that Tubbs Jones had died. That report, citing a Democratic official, was corrected a few minutes later when a hospital official held a news conference to say the congresswoman was in critical condition. Her death was announced about four hours later by family members and the Clvelad Clinic, which owns Huron Hospital.
Tubbs Jones was one of U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's biggest boosters during the primaries and was to have been a superdelegate at next week's Democratic National Convention in Denver.
She switched her backing to U.S. Sen. Barack Obama in June, but said he could not win unless Clinton's supporters rallied behind him. She also said Obama should consider Clinton as a running mate.
The Clinton family released a statement saying they shared a friendship with Tubbs Jones that "deepened through every trial and challenge."
"Over the course of many years, with many ups and many downs, Stephanie was right by our side _ unwavering, indefatigable," the statement said. "It was that fighting spirit ... that allowed Stephanie to rise from modest beginnings, to succeed in public service, to become a one-woman force for progress in our country."
Obama called Tubbs Jones "an extraordinary American and an outstanding public servant."
"It wasn't enough for her just to break barriers in her own life. She was also determined to bring opportunity to all those who had been overlooked and left behind _ and in Stephanie, they had a fearless friend and unyielding advocate," Obama said in a statement.
On the Ways and Means Committee, Tubbs Jones opposed President Bush's tax cuts and his efforts to create personal accounts within Social Security. In 2005, she opposed certifying his re-election because of questionable electoral results in her home state.
"After making history as the first African-American woman elected to Congress from Ohio, the congresswoman worked to expand the rights of all Americans," Bush said Wednesday. "Our nation is grateful for her service."
Tubbs Jones, who chaired the House Ethics Committee, was a passionate opponent of the war in Iraq, voting in 2002 against authorizing the use of military force. Just as the war was starting in March 2003, she was one of only 11 House members to oppose a resolution supporting U.S. troops in Iraq.
Democratic U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, who also represents Cleveland, was visibly upset Wednesday night when he left Huron Hospital. He held the hand of his wife, Elizabeth, as he recalled Tubbs Jones' energy and spirit.
"She poured her heart and soul into her job," Kucinich said. "She worked so hard and gave everything she could. I'm devastated. Wherever we'd go, we'd speak of each other as brother and sister. It's an incalculable loss."
Tubbs Jones was known as an outspoken, gregarious lawmaker who wore bright colors and displayed her congressional pin on a gold necklace.
She was a fiery speaker who could inspire crowds at political rallies, as she did while introducing former President Clinton when he campaigned for his wife in January in suburban Cleveland.
Tubbs Jones had served as a Cuyahoga County Common Pleas judge and prosecutor before running for political office.
Tubbs Jones grew up in a working-class area of Cleveland, the youngest of three girls. Her father, Andrew Tubbs, was a skycap for United Airlines at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. Her mother, Mary, was a homemaker and later a factory worker.
Addressing the Democratic National Convention in 2004, Tubbs Jones recalled her parents, who "punched a clock day in and day out _ one as a skycap, the other as a factory worker," until the day they saw their daughter representing their hometown as a congresswoman.
Tubbs Jones studied sociology at Case Western Reserve University on a full scholarship that she attributed to affirmative action efforts. After graduating from law school, she worked for the city sewer district and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Her husband of 27 years, Mervyn L. Jones, died of a heart attack in 2003. The couple had one son, Mervyn Jones II.
___
Associated Press writer Andrew Taylor in Washington contributed to this report.
Democratic U.S. Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, who died from a brain hemorrhage at age 58, was remembered as a trailblazer whose energy and outspokenness made her one of Congress' most dynamic leaders.
Tubbs Jones, the first black woman to represent Ohio in Congress, died Wednesday evening, about 21 hours after an anuerysm caused the hemorrhage Tuesday night. The condition had left her with limited brain function before her death, said Dr. Gus Kious, president of Huron Hospital in East Cleveland where Tubbs Jones died.
Tubbs Jones represented Ohio's heavily Democratic 11th District for five terms. She was the first black woman to serve on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee and the first to serve as a common pleas judge in Ohio.
Former U.S. Rep. Louis Stokes made Tubbs Jones his hand-picked successor in 1998.
"I wanted somebody whom I felt could carry on what I tried to do for 30 years in that congressional district," Stokes said. "She did it. She took it to a higher level, a new level. She made me so proud."
The congresswoman suffered the hemorrhage while driving her car in suburban Cleveland Heights Tuesday night. She had been driving erratically and her vehicle crossed lanes of traffic before coming to a stop, police said. An officer found her.
An aneurysm is a dangerous weakness or bulge in a blood vessel that can leak or rupture, causing bleeding. In Tubbs Jones, the aneurysm burst in an inaccessible part of her brain, Kious said.
Several news organizations, including The Associated Press, had reported earlier Wednesday that Tubbs Jones had died. That report, citing a Democratic official, was corrected a few minutes later when a hospital official held a news conference to say the congresswoman was in critical condition. Her death was announced about four hours later by family members and the Clvelad Clinic, which owns Huron Hospital.
Tubbs Jones was one of U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's biggest boosters during the primaries and was to have been a superdelegate at next week's Democratic National Convention in Denver.
She switched her backing to U.S. Sen. Barack Obama in June, but said he could not win unless Clinton's supporters rallied behind him. She also said Obama should consider Clinton as a running mate.
The Clinton family released a statement saying they shared a friendship with Tubbs Jones that "deepened through every trial and challenge."
"Over the course of many years, with many ups and many downs, Stephanie was right by our side _ unwavering, indefatigable," the statement said. "It was that fighting spirit ... that allowed Stephanie to rise from modest beginnings, to succeed in public service, to become a one-woman force for progress in our country."
Obama called Tubbs Jones "an extraordinary American and an outstanding public servant."
"It wasn't enough for her just to break barriers in her own life. She was also determined to bring opportunity to all those who had been overlooked and left behind _ and in Stephanie, they had a fearless friend and unyielding advocate," Obama said in a statement.
On the Ways and Means Committee, Tubbs Jones opposed President Bush's tax cuts and his efforts to create personal accounts within Social Security. In 2005, she opposed certifying his re-election because of questionable electoral results in her home state.
"After making history as the first African-American woman elected to Congress from Ohio, the congresswoman worked to expand the rights of all Americans," Bush said Wednesday. "Our nation is grateful for her service."
Tubbs Jones, who chaired the House Ethics Committee, was a passionate opponent of the war in Iraq, voting in 2002 against authorizing the use of military force. Just as the war was starting in March 2003, she was one of only 11 House members to oppose a resolution supporting U.S. troops in Iraq.
Democratic U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, who also represents Cleveland, was visibly upset Wednesday night when he left Huron Hospital. He held the hand of his wife, Elizabeth, as he recalled Tubbs Jones' energy and spirit.
"She poured her heart and soul into her job," Kucinich said. "She worked so hard and gave everything she could. I'm devastated. Wherever we'd go, we'd speak of each other as brother and sister. It's an incalculable loss."
Tubbs Jones was known as an outspoken, gregarious lawmaker who wore bright colors and displayed her congressional pin on a gold necklace.
She was a fiery speaker who could inspire crowds at political rallies, as she did while introducing former President Clinton when he campaigned for his wife in January in suburban Cleveland.
Tubbs Jones had served as a Cuyahoga County Common Pleas judge and prosecutor before running for political office.
Tubbs Jones grew up in a working-class area of Cleveland, the youngest of three girls. Her father, Andrew Tubbs, was a skycap for United Airlines at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. Her mother, Mary, was a homemaker and later a factory worker.
Addressing the Democratic National Convention in 2004, Tubbs Jones recalled her parents, who "punched a clock day in and day out _ one as a skycap, the other as a factory worker," until the day they saw their daughter representing their hometown as a congresswoman.
Tubbs Jones studied sociology at Case Western Reserve University on a full scholarship that she attributed to affirmative action efforts. After graduating from law school, she worked for the city sewer district and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Her husband of 27 years, Mervyn L. Jones, died of a heart attack in 2003. The couple had one son, Mervyn Jones II.
___
Associated Press writer Andrew Taylor in Washington contributed to this report.
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