RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) – U.S. Rep. Howard Coble, whose penchant for old-time politicking, humor and courtesy parlayed him into becoming the longest-serving Republican U.S. House member in North Carolina history, has died. He was 84.
Coble, who served for 30 years on Capitol Hill before declining to run for re-election in 2014, died just before midnight Tuesday at a Greensboro hospital, his nephew Ray Coble Jr. said Wednesday. He had been hospitalized since September after treatment for skin cancer – a long-running condition for him – and the removal of some lymph nodes, Coble Jr. said.
Coble cited nagging health issues in announcing in 2013 that his 15th term in Congress representing the 6th District would be his last. He had a long military and political career, including nearly 30 years in the Coast Guard. He was an assistant federal prosecutor, state revenue secretary under Gov. Jim Holshouser and state House member before his initial 1984 congressional victory by a 79-vote margin.
“North Carolina not only lost a wonderful public servant and congressmen, but our state also lost a friend and mentor to so many, including myself,” Gov. Pat McCrory said in a statement.
Coble, who never married, was a throwback to previous generations of politicians who focused less on ideology and more on relationships, showing up at hundreds of local parades and Boy Scout Eagle Scout ceremonies during his congressional tenure.