(WASHINGTON) — Rep. Mary Peltola’s, D-Alaska, office announced Wednesday that her husband died in a plane accident in Alaska.
“We are devastated to share that Mary’s husband, Eugene Peltola Jr. — ‘Buzzy’ to all of us who knew and loved him — passed away earlier this morning following a plane accident in Alaska,” Peltola’s chief of staff Anton McParland said in a statement on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
“He was one of those people that was obnoxiously good at everything. He had a delightful sense of humor that lightened the darkest moments. He was definitely the cook in the family. And family was most important to him. He was completed devoted to his parents, kids, siblings, extended family, and friends — and he simply adored Mary. We are heartbroken for the family’s loss,” McParland said.
McParland said Peltola is traveling back to Alaska to be with her family and that her staffers will “continue to meet with constituents and carry on the work of the office …”
McParland’s statement did not include any details on the crash, but the National Transportation Safety Board Wednesday said it was probing the crash of a single-engine Piper PA 18-150 Super Cub near St. Mary’s, a town in western Alaska.
Peltola first won her seat in a special election in August of last year and later won a full term of her own in November.
Bipartisan colleagues flooded social media with condolences, including Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, a Republican.
“I am shocked, saddened and truly beyond words to express my grief at the loss of Gene Peltola Jr. Anyone who met Buzzy felt his warmth, generosity and charm. It was easy to see why so many Alaskans called him a friend, and how he was so loved by his family,” Murkowski wrote on X.
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