Former Rep. Barney Frank, D-Massachusetts, has died at the age of 86, his sister and a close family friend confirmed.
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He had been in hospice care at his home in Ogunquit, Maine, in recent months, being treated for congestive heart failure. He died Tuesday night.
“He was, above all else, a wonderful brother. I was lucky to be his sister,” Frank’s sister Doris Breay told NBC10 Boston this morning.
One of the first openly gay members of Congress, Frank is well-known as one of the sponsors of the Dodd-Frank Act, which reformed federal financial oversight in response to the 2008 financial crisis.
Frank represented Massachusetts in the House of Representatives from 1981 to 2013. He served as chairman of the House Financial Services Committee from 2007-2011. He chose not to seek re-election in 2012.
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He spoke with NBC10 Boston earlier this month from hospice care, taking aim at Democratic priorites and calling on the party to step back from social issues like trans rights.
“That’s the approach the transgender community should take to male-to-female transgenders playing in women’s sports,” Frank said. “That’s very controversial. Other issues are, I think more important, but also less toxic, like getting good medical care, guaranteeing that for people, guaranteeing people the right to designate their genders, and they should put off the most controversial.”
While he was still seeking to influence the here-and-now in his final days, he said he was also looking beyond this life and showing appreciation for the well wishes that were coming his way.
“It’s not fun facing the death sentence, but it becomes less — frankly, less depressing, less of an emotional attack, when it’s offset by all these very generous comments,” Frank said.
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