Missouri mourns the death of Jean Carnahan, the state’s 1st woman to serve in the US Senate
Missouri mourns the death of Jean Carnahan, the state’s 1st woman to serve in the US Senate
FILE - Sen. Jean Carnahan, D-Mo., second right, gestures during a Capitol Hill news conference Wednesday, April 4, 2001 to discuss the budget. From left are, Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., Sen. James Jeffords, R-Vt., Carnahan and Sen. John Breaux, D-La. Carnahan, who became the first female senator to represent Missouri after she was appointed to replace her husband following his death, died Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024. She was 90. (AP Photo/Stephen J. Boitano, File)
FILE - Sen. Jean Carnahan, D-Mo. expressed her simpathy and commented on the death of fellow Sen. Paul Wellstone, D-Minn, Saturday Oct. 26, 2002 in St. Louis. Carnahan, who became the first female senator to represent Missouri after she was appointed to replace her husband following his death, died Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024. She was 90. (AP Photo/David Kennedy, File)
FILE - U.S. Senator-elect Jean Carnahan, D-Missouri, talks during an interview on Capitol Hill, Thursday, Dec. 7, 2000. Carnahan, who became the first female senator to represent Missouri after she was appointed to replace her husband following his death, died Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024. She was 90. (AP Photo/Kenneth Lambert, File)
FILE - Sen. Jean Carnahan, D-Mo., center, waves to supporters Sunday, April 28, 2002, during a campaign rally in Maplewood, Mo., where she announced her plans to seek election to the U.S. Senate. Carnahan, who became the first female senator to represent Missouri after she was appointed to replace her husband following his death, died Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024. She was 90. (AP Photo/James A. Finley, File)
FILE - Sen. Jean Carnahan, D-Mo, center, talks with her daughter-in-law Deborah Carnahan, right, front, as she stands with her son, Tom Carnahan, back right, and former Missouri first lady Betty Hearnes, left, Monday, Jan. 8, 2001, prior to the inaugural ceremonies in Jefferson City, Mo. Carnahan, who became the first female senator to represent Missouri after she was appointed to replace her husband following his death, died Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024. She was 90. (AP Photo/L.G. Patterson, File)
FILE - Former U.S. Sen. and Missouri first lady Jean Carnahan rises to give a commencement address, Saturday, May 14, 2005, for the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Health Professions at Jesse Auditorium in Columbia, Mo. Carnahan, who became the first female senator to represent Missouri after she was appointed to replace her husband following his death, died Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024. She was 90. (Ed Pfueller/Columbia Daily Tribune via AP)
FILE - Senator Jean Carnahan, D-Mo., accompanied by her children Tom, left, and Robin, center, participates in a mock swearing-in by Vice President Al Gore in Washington Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2001. Carnahan, who became the first female senator to represent Missouri after she was appointed to replace her husband following his death, died Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024. She was 90. (AP Photo/Hillery Smith Garrison, File)
FILE - Sen. Jean Carnahan, D-Mo., second right, gestures during a Capitol Hill news conference Wednesday, April 4, 2001 to discuss the budget. From left are, Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., Sen. James Jeffords, R-Vt., Carnahan and Sen. John Breaux, D-La. Carnahan, who became the first female senator to represent Missouri after she was appointed to replace her husband following his death, died Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024. She was 90. (AP Photo/Stephen J. Boitano, File)
FILE - Sen. Jean Carnahan, D-Mo., second right, gestures during a Capitol Hill news conference Wednesday, April 4, 2001 to discuss the budget. From left are, Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., Sen. James Jeffords, R-Vt., Carnahan and Sen. John Breaux, D-La. Carnahan, who became the first female senator to represent Missouri after she was appointed to replace her husband following his death, died Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024. She was 90. (AP Photo/Stephen J. Boitano, File)
FILE - Sen. Jean Carnahan, D-Mo. expressed her simpathy and commented on the death of fellow Sen. Paul Wellstone, D-Minn, Saturday Oct. 26, 2002 in St. Louis. Carnahan, who became the first female senator to represent Missouri after she was appointed to replace her husband following his death, died Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024. She was 90. (AP Photo/David Kennedy, File)
FILE - Sen. Jean Carnahan, D-Mo. expressed her simpathy and commented on the death of fellow Sen. Paul Wellstone, D-Minn, Saturday Oct. 26, 2002 in St. Louis. Carnahan, who became the first female senator to represent Missouri after she was appointed to replace her husband following his death, died Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024. She was 90. (AP Photo/David Kennedy, File)
FILE - U.S. Senator-elect Jean Carnahan, D-Missouri, talks during an interview on Capitol Hill, Thursday, Dec. 7, 2000. Carnahan, who became the first female senator to represent Missouri after she was appointed to replace her husband following his death, died Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024. She was 90. (AP Photo/Kenneth Lambert, File)
FILE - U.S. Senator-elect Jean Carnahan, D-Missouri, talks during an interview on Capitol Hill, Thursday, Dec. 7, 2000. Carnahan, who became the first female senator to represent Missouri after she was appointed to replace her husband following his death, died Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024. She was 90. (AP Photo/Kenneth Lambert, File)
FILE - Sen. Jean Carnahan, D-Mo., center, waves to supporters Sunday, April 28, 2002, during a campaign rally in Maplewood, Mo., where she announced her plans to seek election to the U.S. Senate. Carnahan, who became the first female senator to represent Missouri after she was appointed to replace her husband following his death, died Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024. She was 90. (AP Photo/James A. Finley, File)
FILE - Sen. Jean Carnahan, D-Mo., center, waves to supporters Sunday, April 28, 2002, during a campaign rally in Maplewood, Mo., where she announced her plans to seek election to the U.S. Senate. Carnahan, who became the first female senator to represent Missouri after she was appointed to replace her husband following his death, died Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024. She was 90. (AP Photo/James A. Finley, File)
FILE - Sen. Jean Carnahan, D-Mo, center, talks with her daughter-in-law Deborah Carnahan, right, front, as she stands with her son, Tom Carnahan, back right, and former Missouri first lady Betty Hearnes, left, Monday, Jan. 8, 2001, prior to the inaugural ceremonies in Jefferson City, Mo. Carnahan, who became the first female senator to represent Missouri after she was appointed to replace her husband following his death, died Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024. She was 90. (AP Photo/L.G. Patterson, File)
FILE - Sen. Jean Carnahan, D-Mo, center, talks with her daughter-in-law Deborah Carnahan, right, front, as she stands with her son, Tom Carnahan, back right, and former Missouri first lady Betty Hearnes, left, Monday, Jan. 8, 2001, prior to the inaugural ceremonies in Jefferson City, Mo. Carnahan, who became the first female senator to represent Missouri after she was appointed to replace her husband following his death, died Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024. She was 90. (AP Photo/L.G. Patterson, File)
FILE - Former U.S. Sen. and Missouri first lady Jean Carnahan rises to give a commencement address, Saturday, May 14, 2005, for the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Health Professions at Jesse Auditorium in Columbia, Mo. Carnahan, who became the first female senator to represent Missouri after she was appointed to replace her husband following his death, died Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024. She was 90. (Ed Pfueller/Columbia Daily Tribune via AP)
FILE - Former U.S. Sen. and Missouri first lady Jean Carnahan rises to give a commencement address, Saturday, May 14, 2005, for the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Health Professions at Jesse Auditorium in Columbia, Mo. Carnahan, who became the first female senator to represent Missouri after she was appointed to replace her husband following his death, died Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024. She was 90. (Ed Pfueller/Columbia Daily Tribune via AP)
FILE - Senator Jean Carnahan, D-Mo., accompanied by her children Tom, left, and Robin, center, participates in a mock swearing-in by Vice President Al Gore in Washington Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2001. Carnahan, who became the first female senator to represent Missouri after she was appointed to replace her husband following his death, died Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024. She was 90. (AP Photo/Hillery Smith Garrison, File)
FILE - Senator Jean Carnahan, D-Mo., accompanied by her children Tom, left, and Robin, center, participates in a mock swearing-in by Vice President Al Gore in Washington Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2001. Carnahan, who became the first female senator to represent Missouri after she was appointed to replace her husband following his death, died Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024. She was 90. (AP Photo/Hillery Smith Garrison, File)
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri residents on Wednesday mourned the death of former U.S. Sen. Jean Carnahan, who became the state’s first female U.S. senator when she was appointed to replace her husband following his death.
The Missouri state House held a moment of silence to mark Carnahan’s Tuesday death at age 90. Her family did not specify the cause of death but said Carnahan died after a brief illness at a hospice facility in suburban St. Louis.
Carnahan, a Democrat, was appointed to the U.S. Senate in 2001 after the posthumous election of her husband, Gov. Mel Carnahan, and she served until 2002.
President Joe Biden in a statement said he’s proud to have called her a “dear friend.”
“In the face of unspeakable loss, she found the courage to step up into work she’d never imagined, putting the people and values she believed in above her personal comfort in order to serve our nation,” Biden said.
Carnahan’s public memorial service will be held at 10 a.m. Feb. 10 at the Sheldon Concert Hall in St. Louis.
Missouri Democratic Party Executive Director Matthew Patterson in a statement described Jean Carnahan as a “fierce and brilliant public servant” and a “trailblazer.”
Former Democratic U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill said she “survived tragedy with grit and grace.”
“I know her family will miss her terribly, along with all of us lucky enough to be her friend,” McCaskill said in a statement.