Joseph Richard Begich (January 17, 1930 – August 10, 2019) was an American politician in the state of

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

. He was born in

Eveleth, Minnesota Eveleth is a city in St. Louis County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 3,493 at the 2020 census. Eveleth is part of the Quad Cities, with Virginia, Gilbert, and Mountain Iron. U.S. Highway 53 and State Highway 37 (MN 37) are ...

. He was an alumnus of the Northwest School of Agriculture and was a grain and livestock farmer. Begich served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

. He served as mayor of

, from 1965 to 1974, when he was elected to the Minnesota Legislature. He served in the House of Representatives for District 6A from 1975 to 1982 and for District 6B from 1983 to 1992. He was also a member of the

Hospital Board. Begich died at a nursing home in Eveleth in 2019 at the age of 89.

Family

Begich was married to Carolyn and had one daughter. He was the brother of United States Congressman from Alaska Nick Begich, who disappeared and was presumed dead in 1972 while riding a plane, the uncle of former United States Senator from Alaska

Mark Begich Mark Peter Begich ( ; born March 30, 1962) is an American politician and lobbyist who served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Alaska from 2009 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he ...

, and the great-uncle of the current United States Congressman from Alaska

Nick Begich III Nicholas Joseph Begich III ( ; born October 21, 1977) is an American politician and businessman who has served as the U.S. representative for Alaska's at-large congressional district since 2025. A member of the Republican Party (United States), R ...

Honours

* A section of

Minnesota State Highway 101 Minnesota State Highway 101 (MN 101) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The present day route currently has two separate segments. The roadway was a continuous route until 1988. Route description The northern section of the road ...

was renamed the "Representative Joe Begich Highway" in 2017.

References

1930 births 2019 deaths Mayors of places in Minnesota Democratic Party members of the Minnesota House of Representatives People from Eveleth, Minnesota Farmers from Minnesota Military personnel from Minnesota Begich family 20th-century members of the Minnesota Legislature {{Minnesota-mayor-stub