Bob Edgar, ex-congressman, NCC general secretary, dies at 69
Bob Edgar, a Methodist minister and former congressman who used his fund-raising and organizational skills in leading the National Council of Churches, died suddenly at his Virginia home on April 23. He was chief executive of Common Cause, a citizen’s lobbying organization promoting open and accountable government.
Edgar died one month short of his 70th birthday. He suffered a massive heart attack while exercising and could not be revived, according to Paul Fanlund, editor of the Capital Times in Madison, Wisconsin, who had interviewed him 11 days earlier.
After earning his M.Div. degree at the Theological School at Drew University, Edgar served as a United Methodist pastor, college chaplain and community organizer before winning, in 1974, the first of six terms as a Democratic representative from Pennsylvania. He coauthored the GI Bill for the all-volunteer service.
