Rep. Alan Nunnelee, Mississippi Republican, dies of cancer

TUPELO, Miss., Feb. 6 (UPI) -- Rep. Alan Nunnelee, a Mississippi Republican who had just started his third term in Congress, died of brain cancer Friday.

The 56-year-old spent much of his last few months in hospitals after brain surgery in June. He was sworn in to his third term by a federal judge who came to the North Mississippi Medical Center in Tupelo.

"Congressman Alan Nunnelee has gone home to be with Jesus. He was well loved and will be greatly missed," his family said in a statement.

Nunnelee got into politics after years in the insurance business in Tupelo. He served in the state Senate and then unseated a Democratic incumbent in Mississippi to win election to the House in 2010.

In his first term, Nunnelee was one of three freshmen given a coveted seat on the House Appropriations Committee.

Nunnelee was fiscally and socially conservative, proud of his efforts as a state lawmaker to restrict abortion in Mississippi and open about his religious faith. But fellow politicians praised him for his fairness and willingness to work with those he did not agree with.

State Sen. Hob Bryan, a Democrat, called Nunnelee a friend.

"He was concerned with propriety, that the procedures were fair so that any lawmaker, even if they weren't in the leadership and no matter their party got a fair shot at convincing others," Bryan said.

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, called Nunnelee "the rare calming presence in the cauldron of politics."

"He never let cancer get the best of him. We know this because, at the end of his life, all Alan asked of us was whether he made a difference. Indeed he did, very much so," Boehner said in a statement.