Ex-Rep. Peter Francis Mack Jr.; Illinois’ ‘Flying Congressman’
WASHINGTON — Peter Francis Mack Jr., a former member of the House of Representatives from Illinois who flew himself on a 33,000-mile, around-the-world good-will tour in 1951, is dead.
Dubbed “the Flying Congressman” for his 30-nation tour in a single-engine plane, Mack was 69 when he died Friday at a hospital here. The hospital declined to release the cause of death, but the Washington Post reported he had suffered from cancer.
Mack, a Democrat, was first elected to Congress from the 21st District of Illinois in 1948 and served seven consecutive terms.
He sponsored legislation that established the U.S. Travel Service and the Textile Labeling Act, and he also served on the committee that drafted the Federal Aviation Act.
Mack, a Navy aviator in World War II, was a licensed commercial pilot who became assistant to the president of the Southern Railway System after leaving Congress. He also founded his own real estate and investment firm.
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