George Washington Collins (March 5, 1925 – December 8, 1972) was a Democratic

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 member of the U.S. House of Representatives

United States House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

 from Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

.

Collins was born in Chicago, and served with the Army engineers

United States Army Corps of Engineers

The United States Army Corps of Engineers is a federal agency and a major Army command made up of some 38,000 civilian and military personnel, making it the world's largest public engineering, design and construction management agency...

 in the South Pacific during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. After the war, Collins held positions with the Cook County

Cook County, Illinois

Cook County is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois, with its county seat in Chicago. It is the second most populous county in the United States after Los Angeles County. The county has 5,194,675 residents, which is 40.5 percent of all Illinois residents. Cook County's population is larger than...

 sheriff

Sheriff

A sheriff is in principle a legal official with responsibility for a county. In practice, the specific combination of legal, political, and ceremonial duties of a sheriff varies greatly from country to country....

’s department, the municipal court system, and the Board of Health, and as administrative assistant to health commissioner prior to being sent to Congress. From 1964–1970, Collins served as a member of the Chicago city council. Collins was then elected to fill the vacancy caused by the death of U.S. Rep. Daniel J. Ronan

Daniel J. Ronan

Daniel John Ronan was a U.S. Representative from Illinois.Born in Chicago, Illinois, Ronan attended parochial schools.He graduated from St...

 and reelected to the succeeding Congress and served until his death.

Collins died on December 8, 1972 when United Airlines Flight 553

United Airlines Flight 553

United Airlines Flight 553 was a Boeing 737-222 that crashed on approach to Chicago Midway International Airport at 2:28 p.m. CST, on December 8, 1972. After the crew was told to go around and abort their first landing attempt on runway 31L at Midway Airport, the aircraft struck trees and then...

 crashed on approach to Chicago Midway International Airport. Collins was a passenger on the flight. His wife Cardiss Collins

Cardiss Collins

Cardiss H. Collins, originally Cardiss Robertson, is a Democratic politician from Illinois who served in the United States House of Representatives from 1973 to 1997...

 was elected to his seat (which had been redistricted to the 7th district) shortly thereafter.

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