Ex-Rep. Metcalf dies in Alzheimer’s clinic
SEATTLE – Former U.S. Rep. Jack Metcalf died Thursday, his family pastor and a former congressional aide said. Metcalf was 79.
Metcalf died at an Alzheimer’s care facility north of here in Oak Harbor, said Matt Chambers, a family pastor who spent the day with the family.
The former congressman was surrounded by relatives when he died of complications of Alzheimer’s, said state Rep. Chris Strow, Metcalf’s former chief of staff and longtime aide.
Metcalf, a Republican, was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s shortly after he retired from Congress in 2001, Chambers said. Metcalf entered HomePlace, an Alzheimer’s care facility, on Dec. 28.
Over a political career that spanned 42 years, Metcalf built a reputation for conservatism, independence and occasional quirkiness for embracing issues such as the gold standard and arcane monetary policy.
He was the lone member of Washington state’s delegation to vote against a bill authorizing permanent normal trade relations with China in 2000. He also fought the Makah Tribe’s attempts to restart whaling off the Washington coast, and led long-term efforts to improve natural resource and fisheries management and environmental protection.
A strong advocate for service members, Metcalf supported investigations into the causes of illnesses faced by veterans of the Gulf War, and supported increased funding for military family assistance and homeless veterans programs.
Born in Marysville in 1927 to a commercial fisherman, Metcalf served in the Army in 1946 and 1947.
He later joined the federal wildlife agency, and also worked for 30 years as a school teacher, mostly in the Everett School District.
Metcalf served as a state representative from 1961 through 1964, then as a state senator 1966-74 and 1980-92.
Metcalf waged three unsuccessful bids for Congress – in 1968, 1974 and 1992 – before winning the 2nd District House seat in 1994.
During his six-year congressional career, Metcalf embraced a wide range of causes, including term limits, recycling, homeless veterans and border patrols.
Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Wash., recalled meeting Metcalf in 1968 “when he spent the night on my living room couch as he ran for the United States Senate against Warren Magnuson.”
“People describe Jack as a conservative and a maverick, but the better way to say it is he was true to himself and deeply devoted to the citizens who elected him,” Hastings said in a statement.
Metcalf retired in 2001, declining to run for a fourth term and therefore honoring a promise to voters who had approved an initiative on term limits in 1992 – though the courts had thrown out term limits in Washington state.
He and his wife, Norma, moved into the Log Castle Bed and Breakfast, which they operated near the Whidbey Island town of Langley.