John Monagan, 93; Democrat Served 7 Terms in Congress

John Monagan, 93, a seven-term Congressman from Connecticut, died Sunday at his home in Washington, D.C., his family said. The cause of death was not announced, but he was known to have heart disease.

Monagan, a Democrat, served as Connecticut’s 5th District representative from 1959 until 1973. He headed a House Governmental Operations subcommittee that in the late 1960s helped uncover irregularities in the Federal Housing Administration’s financing of the Housing Renewal Program.

After losing the 1972 election to Republican Ronald Sarasin, Monagan went into private law practice in Washington.

A native of Waterbury, Conn., Monagan graduated from Dartmouth College in 1933 and earned a law degree from Harvard in 1937. He served as mayor of Waterbury from 1943 to 1948. During that time, the city hired its first black teacher and police officer and ended gender-based pay differences in the school system.

A prolific writer throughout his life, Monagan wrote opinion pieces and articles for the New York Times, Washington Post and Washington Star.