GARY -
Former Indiana congresswoman Katie Hall has died. She was 73.
Hall's husband, John Henry Hall, says she died Monday at Methodist Hospitals' Northlake campus from an undisclosed illness.
Hall was a state senator when she was appointed in 1982 to complete the term of U.S. Rep. Adam Benjamin of northwestern Indiana's 1st District after his death. Later that year, she won election to a full two-year term.
Hall was defeated in the 1984 Democratic primary by Peter Visclosky, who has held the seat since then. She then served as Gary's city clerk from 1988 until 2003, when she pleaded guilty to extorting money from her staff.
Hall was sentenced to house arrest and probation but her daughter, Junifer Hall, served a 16-month prison term.
Indiana Democratic Party Chair Dan Parker issued the following statement:
"We join with our friends in Northwest Indiana in mourning the loss of Katie Hall, Indiana's first African-American member of Congress. Katie worked hard in Washington to make sure Martin Luther King Jr. received national recognition for his fight for civil rights, and she never forgot her humble beginnings or those in Indiana she represented."
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