Former Rep. Richard Lankford (D-Md.) died Sept. 22 at age 89 as the result of a pulmonary embolism.

During his tenure in Congress from 1955 to 1965, Lankford served on the House Armed Services and Government Operations committees. Before working on the Hill, Lankford was appointed to the Maryland House of Delegates in 1948 and ran successfully for the state House in 1950.

Before his political career, Lankford was an attorney in Annapolis and a tobacco and cattle farmer.

Born in Wilmington, Del., Lankford graduated from the University of Virginia in 1937 with a political science degree. He received his law degree from the University of Maryland in 1940.

Lankford married Mary Elizabeth Allen in 1939. She passed away in 1986.

Edna Earl Lankford, whom he married in 1990, resides in Easton, Md.

Other survivors are two children from his first marriage, Richard E. Lankford Jr. of Millington, Md., and Sallie Lankford Griffin of Marblehead, Mass., and one granddaughter.

— Jessica L. Brady