RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — John F. "Jack" McDonnell, the 94-year-old father of Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, died Tuesday.
The elder McDonnell had served for 23 years in the Air Force, flying aboard bombers from England into Nazi-occupied Europe in World War II. He raised the future governor and four other children with his wife Emma in northern Virginia. She died in 1994.
John McDonnell made one of his last public appearances in a wheelchair at his son's Jan. 16 inauguration. At the state Capitol following the ceremony, the new governor knelt and kissed his father on the forehead.
The elder McDonnell died on election day, a year after his son's easy electoral victory. The Republican governor campaigned for other candidates this year and his post wasn't up for election Tuesday.
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