Jean Carnahan, First Woman to Represent Missouri in U.S. Senate, Dies at 90

Jean Carnahan, who in 2001 became the first woman to represent Missouri in the U.S. Senate after being appointed to fill her husband’s seat following his posthumous election, died on Tuesday. She was 90.

The Associated Press reported that her family released a statement saying that Ms. Carnahan had died following a brief illness, but it did not specify the cause of death.

“Mom passed peacefully after a long and rich life,” the statement said. “She was a fearless trailblazer. She was brilliant, creative, compassionate and dedicated to her family and her fellow Missourians,” her family said in the statement.

Ms. Carnahan, the wife of Mel Carnahan, was appointed to the U.S. Senate from Missouri in December 2000, following the posthumous election of her husband, who was killed just weeks beforehand in a plane crash. She was sworn in on Jan. 3, 2001.

A complete obituary will follow.