MITCHELL, S.D., Jan. 26 (UPI) -- Eleanor McGovern, wife of 1972 Democratic presidential nominee and former U.S. Sen. George McGovern, has died in Mitchell, S.D., at age 85.
She died of heart failure Wednesday at her home, the Los Angeles Times reported Friday.
The second daughter of a politically active South Dakota family, she was the first spouse to campaign alone for her presidential candidate husband and she spoke out on such issues as abortion and the Vietnam War.
"I never considered it George's career," she once said. "It was ours."
She was born Eleanor Stegeberg on Nov. 25, 1921, and grew up in poverty on a farm outside Woonsocket, S.D., in the Dust Bowl years.
She first met her future husband when their high school debating teams competed against each other -- her team won. Later, they met again at Dakota Wesleyan and were married in 1943.
Eleanor McGovern is survived by her husband, four children and a sister.
