Memorial to be held for Congressman Lantos

March 14, 2008
Bay City News Service

A public memorial service will be held in South San Francisco at the end of March for the late Congressman Tom Lantos.

The ceremony will be held to celebrate the life and achievements of Lantos, who died Feb. 11 at the Bethesda Naval Medical Center in Maryland due to complications from esophageal cancer.

The 80-year-old congressman, who was diagnosed with cancer in late December, announced he would not seek re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives on Jan. 2 but had committed to serving the rest of his 14th term through December, spokeswoman Lynne Weil said.

A special election will be held April 8 to elect a congressional representative to serve the remainder of Lantos’ term, according to the San Mateo County Elections Office.

Lantos, D-San Mateo/San Francisco, was the only Holocaust survivor to be elected to Congress and served as a senior member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. He was the founding co-chairman of the 24-year-old Congressional Human Rights Caucus and was elected chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs in January 2007, according to Weil.

He leaves behind his wife, two daughters, 18 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

The service will take place March 26 at the South San Francisco Conference Center, 225 South Airport Blvd., at 7 p.m.