Former Congressman Dan Rostenkowski, one of Chicago’s most powerful and colorful political characters who controlled the federal purse as chairman of the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee but then was convicted of fraud charges, has died. He was 82.
Rosty, as he was known, served in the U.S. House from 1959 to 1995. For the last 14 years of his tenure he chaired the House Ways and Means Committee, a post he used to steer millions of dollars in federal money to Illinois. But in 1994, amid a federal investigation into ghost payrolling and corruption, Rostenkowski was defeated by political unkown Mike Flanagan.
In 1995 Rostenkowski was convicted of fraud and sentenced to a year and a half in prison. In recent years, he had reemerged on radio and television as an incisive commentator about local politics.
A wake will be held on Monday and the funeral on Tuesday at St. Stanislaus Kostka, 1300 N. Noble St., according to a church official.