NISSWA — Former U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan died Thursday, Oct. 17. He was 80 years old.
A news release from the Minnesota DFL Party announced Nolan’s death, which occurred Thursday night at his Nisswa home. Nolan’s wife Mary told the AP he suffered from heart issues, and paramedics were unable to revive him.
“Rick Nolan was a champion for the Northland who fought fiercely to protect working people from corporate interests,” stated Ken Martin, Minnesota DFL chairman in a Friday morning statement.
“From Ely to Duluth, he was an ambassador for the DFL creed that ‘we all do better when we all do better.’ Our thoughts are with his family and all who came to know and love this dedicated public servant.”
An outpouring of remembrances from colleagues on both sides of the aisle and friends flooded social media in the wake of the unexpected news Friday morning.
Nolan’s life of service and willingness to put people over politics, his compassion and memorable smile and laugh, and his sharp memory for personal details were among the recollections shared.
Hometown representation
Nolan grew up in Brainerd and graduated from Brainerd High School in 1962. In his youth, he worked as a paper delivery boy for the Brainerd Dispatch, a memory he often fondly shared when recounting his early days. He went on to attend St. John’s University and the University of Minnesota to obtain his bachelor’s degree.
After graduating, he served as a staff assistant to Walter Mondale in the U.S. Senate and taught at Royalton High School. He was a member of the state House of Representatives from 1969 to 1973 and represented the Sixth Congressional District from 1975 through 1981.
After opting not to run for reelection, Nolan became involved in the Central Lakes College Foundation and owned and operated Emily Wood Products in Emily.
He returned to politics in 2012 to challenge first-term Republican incumbent Congressman Chip Cravaack, winning the race to represent the Eighth, where he served through 2019. He faced two close challenges from Stewart Mills III, a member of the family that owned Mills Fleet Farm.
‘One of a kind’
Former DFL state Rep. John Ward of Baxter told KAXE he’s thankful for Nolan’s role in his life both as a fellow politician and as a longtime friend.
“Every time you had a conversation with Rick, you know, you just felt like you were the most important person in the world, and he always left the conversation by saying, you know, I love you, and even giving me a kiss on the cheek,” he shared.
“I'll never forget that. I'll never forget the compassion and the love that Rick showed for others.”
Ward recalled Nolan’s attempts to convince Ward himself to run as the Democrat in the Eighth District race.
“I said, ‘You know, Rick, we've got a better candidate than me, and he said, ‘Who's that?’ And I said, ‘You,” Ward recalled. “And then he did pursue that, he did go and pursue running against Cravaack and was the Eighth Congressional District Congressman again, for all of us.
“That’s the thing about Rick Nolan, he represented all of us. Not just for his political persuasion, but all of us.”
State Sen. Grant Hauschild shared a message regarding Nolan’s death on social media Friday morning, calling him “one of a kind.”
In an interview with KAXE, Hauschild pointed to Nolan’s legacy as a statesman who not only got along with people who held different political beliefs but did not back down from challenging his own party.
“He could navigate Congress and navigate the federal level to figure out, — regardless of again, that partisanship, regardless of who the administration was in the White House — he would find ways to make sure that what northern Minnesota needed happened,” Hauschild said.
He pointed to Nolan’s work to end illegal dumping of steel in the United States by China in 2016 under both the Obama and Trump administrations. He said Nolan was a key advocate on the matter, bringing together a coalition of representatives to advocate for tariffs.
“[It was] just a practical application of our Northern Minnesota politics, to make sure and get the job done,” Hauschild said. “And that's what we've always expected, right, is his results. And he really showed us the way to do that.”
Former Second District Congressman Jason Lewis, a Republican who served at the same time as Nolan, shared a video from an unplanned 2017 road trip with Nolan after a canceled flight in Washington, D.C.
The pair found agreement on an issue of the day — whether it was appropriate for President Donald Trump to launch a strike on Syria without congressional approval — and joked together about the airline situation.
“They bought the pizza after we left, did you ever notice that?” Lewis says in the live Facebook video.
“They thought they were going to appease us with cold pizza,” Nolan replies.
“You know what, and you’re the Democrat, you’re the one that should have got the free lunch.”
“Well, exactly,” Nolan quips back.
Quinn Nystrom, who ran as a Democrat in the Eighth after the Congressman’s retirement, first encountered Nolan as part of her advocacy work to bring attention to the needs of diabetes patients and the cost of insulin.
She said she admired Nolan for always following through on his word. When she asked him to take part in a town hall event on the issue, he didn’t just make an appearance — he stayed and listened to people.
“I think that's how he'll be remembered — being a down to earth person who wanted to help the everyday person,” Nystrom said. “And you know, being a Brainerd High School graduate, it's a really proud thing to have had a really long-serving U.S. congressman, you know, come from kind of a small-town high school.”
Nolan leaves behind his wife, three children and over a dozen grandchildren. He is preceded in death by his daughter Katherine Nolan Bensen.
