Former Rep. Lane Evans dies at 63

Former Rep. Lane Evans (D-Ill.), a staunch liberal who fought for veterans in Congress, has died after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease.

Evans died Wednesday at a nursing home in East Moline, Ill. at the age 63, The Associated Press reported.

{mosads}Evans represented his northwestern Illinois district from 1983-2007, when he decided to retire from office.

He served in the Marines during the Vietnam War and became known as a champion of veterans issues in Congress. He was a top sponsor of legislation in 1991 to provide benefits for Vietnam veterans who had been exposed to Agent Orange, a chemical that causes cancer.

Evans was also an early supporter of then Illinois state Sen. Barack Obama’s U.S. Senate bid in 2004. 

“Lane Evans is a dear friend and an American hero,” Obama told Illinois newspaper the Quad-City Times in 2008. “I believe that had it not been for his early support in my campaign, that I would not be a member of the U.S. Senate. Like Americans across the country, I continue to draw inspiration from Lane.”

Former Obama adviser David Axelrod wrote on Twitter:

Fmr Rep. Lane Evans was one of the most decent people I’ve met in public life. Saddened by his passing after long struggle with Parkinson’s.

— David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) November 6, 2014

“Illinois lost one of its kindest, most caring public servants with the passing of my friend and colleague Lane Evans,” Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said in a statement. “When I last visited him I told him our friend Barack Obama still remembered his quiet courage as a Congressman. I recall our many common causes for veterans and our downstate districts and, of course, our many hard fought campaigns.”

The New York Times profiled Evans in 2000, noting he was able to fend off challengers in his mostly-rural district, despite strongly liberal views, including support for abortion rights and gay rights. 

”If it were true,” Evans told the Times of the idea that he is too liberal for his district, ”it would have caused me to lose my job.”