Donald J. Irwin, a long-time public servant and U.S. Army veteran, died Sunday at age 86 at the Norwalk home he shared with his wife, Janet.
Irwin’s career spanned local, state and federal offices, including three terms as U.S. representative for Connecticut’s fourth congressional district, two terms as the mayor of Norwalk and a brief stint as Connecticut’s treasurer.
He died of heart complications, his wife said, according to published reports.
Irwin was born to American parents in Argentina in 1926, arriving in the U.S. at 19 to attend Yale University. He subsequently entered the U.S. Army, serving with the joint Brazil-U.S. military commission in Rio de Janeiro.
After graduating Yale in 1951 and Yale Law School in 1954, Irwin practiced law in Connecticut and also served on the Norwalk Board of Education. He was elected to Congress as a Democrat in 1958, representing the fourth district for one term before losing his re-election bid.
Irwin was appointed state treasurer by Gov. John N. Dempsy in 1962, and was again elected to Congress in 1964, where he served for four years. He lost his seat to Lowell P. Weicker – who would go on to be Connecticut’s 85th governor – in a 1968 election.
Irwin later was elected mayor of Norwalk in November 1971, and again in 1973, choosing not to run again in the subsequent election.
His funeral is scheduled for the morning of Wednesday, July 10, at St. Thomas the Apostle Church in Norwalk.
