Nancy Pelosi’s Brother and Former Baltimore Mayor Dies

Courtesy of Creative Commons

By Karagan Knowles 10/21/2019

Thomas D’Alesandro III, a former Baltimore mayor who led the city during the 1968 riots and eldest brother of Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, died Sunday at age 90. 

The Baltimore Sun Reported that D’Alesandro died Sunday of a stroke at his Baltimore home.

D’Alesandro served in the U.S. Army before becoming president of the Baltimore City Council. He served Baltimore’s mayor from 1967 to 1971. 

Four months into his term, race riots began over the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King. As mayor, D’Alesandro appointed several African Americans to administrative positions for the first time and presided over the passage of civil rights legislation.

D’Alesandro came from a Maryland political dynasty. His father, Thomas D’Alesandro Jr., served as a U.S. Congressman from Maryland and then became Baltimore’s mayor for 12 years. His sister, Nancy, became the first woman to serve as speaker of the house and is serving for a second time.

“My husband Paul and our entire family are devastated by the loss of our patriarch, my beloved brother, Thomas D’Alesandro III,” Pelosi said in a statement. “Tommy was the finest public servant I have ever known.”

D’Alesandro is survived by his wife Margaret, five children and 10 grandchildren.