Former Minnesota governor, congressman Al Quie dies at 99

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Former Minnesota Gov. Al Quie, a moderate Republican known for working across the aisle as both governor and as a congressman, has died. He was 99.

Quie died of natural causes late Friday at his home in Wayzata, his son, Joel Quie, said Saturday. While he had been in declining health in recent months, he still enjoyed meeting people. At a family gathering two weeks ago, he read aloud to his great-grandchildren from their favorite storybook, his son said.

“His stature and his energy and his enthusiasm for life was there right to the end,” Joel Quie said.

Al Quie represented southern Minnesota’s 1st District in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1958 to 1979. He returned home and defeated Democrat Rudy Perpich in the 1978 gubernatorial race. But his single term turned rocky amid a budget shortfall in the early 1980s, and he opted not to seek reelection.

But Quie, a man of deep Lutheran faith, remained active after leading office, serving as a leader of the national Christian ministry Prison Fellowship. In 2006, he led a commission that recommended steps to keep the state’s judiciary independent and nonpartisan after some Republicans sought to bring politics into judicial elections.

Funeral arrangements were pending Saturday.