Claiborne Pell, college grant author, dies

NEWPORT, R.I., Jan. 1 (UPI) -- Former Sen. Claiborne Pell, D-R.I., the legislative author of a college fund program named for him, has died at his home in Newport his family said. He was 90.

Pell, who represented Rhode Island in the Senate from 1961-1997, died in his sleep early Thursday, his family said in a statement, reported by The Providence (R.I.) Journal. Pell's wife, Nuala Pell, and other family members were with him when he died, the statement said.

Pell was still in the U.S. Senate when he began to suffer from Parkinson's disease, the newspaper said.

In the Senate, Pell stressed issues related to education and the arts and created what came to be known as Pell grants for low income college students.

He also served as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Born Nov. 22, 1918, Pell graduated from Princeton in 1940 and earned a master's degree from Columbia. After working in oil fields in Oklahoma, Pell served as a private secretary at the U.S. Legation in Portugal and delivered emergency supplies to prisoners of war in Germany during the early years of World War II.

He enlisted in the U.S. Coast Guard in 1941 and served in the North Atlantic and the Mediterranean before illness landed him at Newport Naval Hospital, the Journal said.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., issued a statement Thursday recalling Pell as a politician who "never ran a negative campaign and was revered by his constituents and colleagues alike."

"I am deeply saddened by the death of Claiborne Pell, a great American and a giant of the Senate," Reid said. "Any student who has ever received federal aid has Senator Pell to thank for his or her education."