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Ex-Rep. Peter Francis Mack Jr.; Illinois’ ‘Flying Congressman’

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From Times Wire Services

Peter Francis Mack Jr., a former member of the House of Representatives from Illinois who flew himself on a 33,000-mile, around-the-world good-will tour in 1951, is dead.

Dubbed “the Flying Congressman” for his 30-nation tour in a single-engine plane, Mack was 69 when he died Friday at a hospital here. The hospital declined to release the cause of death, but the Washington Post reported he had suffered from cancer.

Mack, a Democrat, was first elected to Congress from the 21st District of Illinois in 1948 and served seven consecutive terms.

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He sponsored legislation that established the U.S. Travel Service and the Textile Labeling Act, and he also served on the committee that drafted the Federal Aviation Act.

Mack, a Navy aviator in World War II, was a licensed commercial pilot who became assistant to the president of the Southern Railway System after leaving Congress. He also founded his own real estate and investment firm.

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