GOP Lawmaker Suddenly Dead at 55 - Found in Home After Complaining of Feeling Unwell
Colorado House Minority Leader Hugh McKean died suddenly in the early morning hours Sunday after complaining the day before of feeling tired and sore.
McKean, a 55-year-old Republican, was first elected to the state legislature in 2016 and was running unopposed in the Nov. 8 election.
Larimer County Chief Deputy Coroner Matt Canaga released a statement saying that McKean had died of acute myocardial infarction — heart attack, according to the Loveland Reporter-Herald.
Following a forensic autopsy, the death was attributed to natural causes, according to The Colorado Sun, an online news outlet based in Denver.
The deputy chief of staff for the Colorado House Republican caucus, Roger Hudson, said that McKean, a general contractor by trade, had been working hard lately constructing a new home for himself as well as working hard for the people who voted him into office. When he complained about feeling tired and sore the previous evening, Hudson figured one or both of those activities were the likely cause of his discomfort.
His pain increased into Saturday night and Sunday morning, until McKean finally called Amy Parks, whom the Loveland Reporter-Herald described as “his longtime partner.” Apparently, he also called an ambulance, because it arrived at McKean’s before Parks did, state Rep. Colin Larson told The Denver Post.
“He was a dear friend, and I’m going to miss him,” Larson, a Republican, told The Post. “I can’t believe he’s gone. And my heart just breaks for Amy and his son and daughter and Amy’s kids. He was just such a loving dad, and he talked about his kids all the time. I hope that they know that.”
“What a great man,” Larimer County Clerk and fellow Republican Angela Myers told the Reporter-Herald. “This is a sad day for all of us. No matter what side of the aisle you are on, this was a fine man who cared for all of us.”
Friends and colleagues expressed their grief on social media.
“Whenever I saw him or spoke to him, he had an encouraging word and was ready to lift others up,” Colorado Republican Party Chairwoman Kristi Burton Brown wrote in a statement posted to Twitter.
“Whenever I think of Hugh McKean, I’ll think of his smile and his positive outlook on life,” she wrote.
I’m deeply saddened by the loss of my friend, Leader Hugh McKean. He was kind and positive and took the time to invest in so many lives, including my children. #copolitics pic.twitter.com/d1Krp7Rbrv
— Kristi Burton Brown (@ColoradoKbb) October 30, 2022
In another tweet, Brown said that McKean had once shared with her a song by contemporary Christian musician Lauren Daigle.
In one of my last conversations with Hugh McKean, he shared this song with me and told me, “I usually know when God is trying to get me to listen. This was one of those.” It’s a song about the love of God, and definitely worth a listen. #copoliticshttps://t.co/9V0ClHHzEv
— Kristi Burton Brown (@ColoradoKbb) October 30, 2022
“I will tremble at no other name,” the song begins. “My heart’s surrendered to no other reign. I will bow at no other throne, and rest my heart at no other home.”
Republican Colorado gubernatorial candidate Heidi Ganahl, in a post on Facebook, called McKean “the definition of a statesman.”
McKean left behind two adult children as well as Parks. He turned 55 on Thursday.
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