CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Pioneering public official U.S. Rep. Mary Rose Oakar of Ohio City passed away at 85 Saturday, upon which Governor Mike DeWine ordered flags flown half-mast.

An Arab-American of Lebanese and Syrian descent, Oakar was born into a working class family as the youngest of five children of a laborer father and homemaking mother.

Oakar grew up to have the stature of the stately trees that still line Ohio City today around her home. She went from a telephone operator turned teacher turned political operator for women’s rights and senior citizens as a Cleveland city councilwoman, U.S. Rep/Caucus leader, Ohio House Rep and Ohio Board of Education member.

Mary Rose Oakar sprouted as the first Democratic woman in Ohio elected to Congress, going on to serve 8 terms from 1977 to 19

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