COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Former U.S. Rep. David Hobson, whose 18 years in Congress included successful efforts to improve military housing and boost federal funding for defense research at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, died Sunday. He was 87.
Hobson died at Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton after a short illness, his family said in a statement.
“To us, he was a husband and a dad, but he played countless other roles of which we’ve been reminded: a leader, a problemsolver, a counselor, a business partner, a friend — the list goes on,” they said in a statement. “Even in our sadness we have laughed hearing old stories, and it has reminded us all over again why so many people loved him. We miss him desperately but are also grateful that he’s at peace.”
Hobson was first elected to Congress in 1990 to fill a southwestern Ohio seat vacated when fellow Republican Mike DeWine, now Ohio governor, became Ohio’s lieutenant governor. Hobson served until 2009. He worked to improve and privatize military housing and to fund research and development programs at Wright-Patterson, located in his district, and at NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland.