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Georgia Rep. Charlie Norwood dead
By UPI Staff
United Press International
February 14, 2007
AUGUSTA, Ga. (UPI) -- U.S. Rep. Charlie Norwood, a Republican who represented east Georgia for 12 years, died at his Augusta home Tuesday of lung cancer at age 65.
Norwood was diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis in 1998 and underwent a lung transplant in October 2004 at Fairfax Hospital in Fairfax, Va. Cancer spread to his liver last year.
The popular congressman, a former U.S. Army dentist and Vietnam veteran, decided to stop treatment in mid-November and returned to his Georgia home for hospice care last week, a statement on his Web site said.
He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1995 and after redistricting represented most of East Georgia from the North Georgia to the North Carolina border halfway to Savannah in South Georgia.
A long-time advocate of patient's rights, Norwood introduced the first comprehensive managed healthcare reform bill in Congress in 1995, and recently reintroduced patient's rights legislation in the 110th Congress.
Norwood was co-author of legislation to protect healthcare rights of military retirees and championed special education, private property rights, telecommunications and environmental regulations.
Charles Whitlow Norwood, Jr. was born in Valdosta, Ga., July 27, 1941, graduated from Georgia Southern University and Georgetown University Dental School. Survivors include Gloria, his wife of 42 years, two sons and four grandchildren.
Memorial services were not finalized.
Copyright 2007 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved
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