Lucien Nedzi

Lucien Nedzi
Nedzi from the Congressional pictorial directory, 1979
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Michigan's 14th district
In office January 3, 1965 – January 3, 1981
Preceded by	Harold M. Ryan
Succeeded by	Dennis Hertel
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Michigan's 1st district
In office November 7, 1961 – January 3, 1965
Preceded by	Thaddeus M. Machrowicz
Succeeded by	John Conyers
Public Administrator of Wayne County, Michigan
In office January 1, 1955 – November 7, 1961[1]
Personal details
Born	Lucien Norbert Nedzi (1925-05-28) May 28, 1925 (age 99) Hamtramck, Michigan, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Margaret Kathleen Garvey ​ ​ (m. 1952; died 2020)​ [2]
Children	5[2]
Education	University of Michigan (BA) University of Detroit (JD)
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch/service	United States Army United States Army Reserve
Years of service	1944–1946 (active) 1946–1953 (reserve)
Battles/wars	World War II Korean War

Lucien Norbert Nedzi (born May 28, 1925) is an American attorney and politician from Michigan who served as public administrator of Wayne County, Michigan from 1955 to 1961 and a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1961 to 1981. He is a member of the Democratic Party.

Early life and education

Nedzi was born to immigrants Aleksander Nedzi and Stephania (Wojszko) Nedzi in the town of Hamtramck, Michigan, an exclave of Detroit. Nedzi is of Polish descent. He graduated from the University of Michigan in 1943. In 1951, he earned a Juris Doctor from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law. He was admitted to the Michigan bar in January 1952. He later graduated from the National War College and Naval War College.^[3]

Military service

From 1944 to 1946, he served in the United States Army during World War II as an infantryman in the Philippines, and in the United States Army Corps of Engineers in Japan. From 1946 to 1953, he was in the active United States Army Reserve, during which time he served in the Korean War.

Politics

He served as the public administrator of Wayne County, Michigan, from 1955 to 1961.

Congress

Nedzi was elected as a U.S. representative from Michigan's 1st congressional district to the 87th United States Congress in a special election in 1961 to fill the vacancy left by resigning U.S. representative Thaddeus M. Machrowicz. He was re-elected in the 1962 election and two years later he was elected from the 14th district and every two years after that until he declined to seek re-election in the 1980 election. In all, he served from November 7, 1961, to January 3, 1981. Nedzi voted in favor of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.^[4]

Nedzi chaired the House Select Committee on Intelligence, known as the Nedzi Committee, from February 1975 until he controversially resigned in June. The committee's work was continued by the Pike Committee.^[5] In addition, Nedzi chaired the United States Congressional Joint Committee on the Library from 1973 to 1979 and the United States House Committee on House Administration from 1979 to 1981.

Personal life

Nedzi married the former Margaret Kathleen "Peggy" Garvey on January 28, 1952, in Laredo, Texas, after they met on a blind date during her dietetic internship at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. Together, they had five children and nine grandchildren. For the rest of their marriage, they lived in McLean, Virginia.^[6] Peggy Nedzi died on November 1, 2020^[7][8] at age 95 while recovering from an acute Rheumatoid vasculitis earlier in the fall.^[8]

References

1. Hannan, Caryn (July 2, 1998). Michigan Biographical Dictionary: A-I. North American Book Dist LLC. ISBN 9780403098019 – via Google Books.
2. "Official congressional directory. 1979". HathiTrust. 1809.
3. "Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress - Retro Member details". bioguideretro.congress.gov. Retrieved 2021-01-21.
4. "H.R. 7152. CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964. ADOPTION OF A RESOLUTION (H. RES. 789) PROVIDING FOR HOUSE APPROVAL OF THE BILL AS AMENDED BY THE SENATE".
5. Lardner Jr., George (11 June 1975). "House Supports Nedzi" (PDF). Washington Post. Rockefeller Commission Item 11. Retrieved 16 November 2013.
6. "Lucien Nedzi". Spartacus Educational. Retrieved 2024-08-08.
7. "Community deaths". Washington Post. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
8. "Margaret Kathleen Nedzi Obituary - 2020 - Direct Cremation Services of Virginia". www.tributearchive.com. Retrieved 2024-04-19.

External links

• United States Congress. "Lucien Nedzi (id: N000019)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• Appearances on C-SPAN

U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Thaddeus M. Machrowicz	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Michigan's 1st congressional district November 7, 1961 – January 3, 1965	Succeeded by John Conyers
Preceded by Harold M. Ryan	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Michigan's 14th congressional district January 3, 1965 – January 3, 1981	Succeeded by Dennis Hertel
U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded by Lacy Clay as Former US Representative	Order of precedence of the United States as Former US Representative	Succeeded by Bill McCollum as Former US Representative