The City of Wilmington has announced the death of a former U.S. Congressman and Wilmington mayor.
Harry G. Haskell passed away Thursday at his Pennsylvania home at the age of 98.
Haskell was the last Republican elected to lead Delaware’s largest city, during the turbulent year of 1968. After taking office, Haskell and then-Gov. Russell Peterson decided the National Guard, which had enforced a city-wide curfew for several months following riots in the wake of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s assassination, should be removed from the city.
Current city officials remember Haskell for listening to residents about what city services they needed and wanted, an effort officials say led to an expansion of the city’s parks system.
Before his time as mayor, Haskell served one term representing Delaware in the U.S. House of Representatives.
In a statement, current Wilmington Mayor Mike Purzycki called Haskell a “giant of a person” who will be greatly missed .
