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To the Oberlin College Community:
It is with great sadness that I write to let you know that our dear colleague and former Congressman, Don Pease, died last night. Don represented Oberlin and the 13th Congressional district of Ohio in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1976 to 1992. After he retired from politics, he became a Visiting Distinguished Professor of Politics at Oberlin College.
A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Ohio University, where he also earned a master’s degree, Don completed his graduate work as a Fulbright Scholar at Kings College, University of Durham, England. He served as editor of the Oberlin News-Tribune for nearly 20 years, during which our local newspaper consistently won prizes for excellence and was voted best paper in the state nine times and best in the nation four times.
A liberal Democrat, Don began his political career with two terms on the Oberlin City Council. He was elected to the Ohio State Senate and served four terms in the Ohio General Assembly. In 1976, he ran for the Congressional seat vacated by retiring Congressman Charles Mosher. He won 66 percent of the popular vote and served eight terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. He distinguished himself in the State House as well as in Congress as a legislator of honesty and integrity. He supported strong ethics laws for public officials and tough campaign finance laws. As a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, one of his first notable achievements in Congress was a successful drive to ban U.S. coffee imports from Uganda in protest against Idi Amin’s genocidal regime.
Don consistently pushed for international labor standards and human rights. On the Ways and Means committee, he was an early advocate of tax reform and gained national recognition for his plan to limit tax deductions for those making more than $100,000, which won bipartisan acceptance in the passage of the 1990 national budget. He championed open "sunshine" laws for government and was an effective advocate for his district. He was awarded an honorary doctor of laws degree from Oberlin in 1988.
After 30 years in public office, Don retired to Oberlin with his wife Jeanne, and taught politics classes at Oberlin College. He and Jeanne continued to travel, bicycle, hike, and enjoy the many friendships and cultural activities in our town. We will miss his warm smile, gentle humor, and wise counsel.
Funeral arrangements are under the direction of Dicken Funeral Home of Elyria. There will be no public services. Memorial contributions may be made to the Don J. Pease Fund of the Lorain County Community Foundation.
Nancy S. Dye,
President
Please send comments, questions, and suggestions about Oberlin Online news and feature articles to online.news@oberlin.edu.
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