Rep. John Lewis' Wife Passes Away Monday

The office of Congressman John Lewis has confirmed that his wife Lilian passed away Monday morning in Atlanta.

Congressman John Lewis and his wife were married in 1968. They have a son together, by the name of John-Miles.

Lilian is said to have played a major role in the civil rights movement at the side of the longtime GA congressman. 

According to the AJC, "Lilian attended Los Angeles High School with the late Johnny Cochran, received an undergraduate degree in English from California State College (now California State University) at Los Angeles, and a master’s degree in library science at the University of Southern California."

John and Lilian met at a New Year's Eve party which was being held at Xernona Clayton's house.  Now after 44 years of marriage, Mrs. Lilian Lewis passed away on New Year's eve.

Here is an excerpt from John Lewis' memoir, "Walking with Wind", on how his wife influenced him to run for congress.

“She had always been very involved in politics, much more than I. She had been a delegate (supporting Shirley Chisholm) to the Democratic National Convention in ’72, and she was constantly active in a variety of local circles and organizations. She was outgoing, involved, intelligent and great in front of an audience — she could make a speech. She also knew how to organize, how to chair a meeting, the nitty-gritty stuff. When she finally said, ‘Let’s do it. Let’s go for it,’ that was enough. We were in.”

No word yet has been given as it relates to funeral arrangements or cause of death.

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