The first woman to represent Missouri in the Senate dies at 90

(NBC, KYMA/KECY) - Jean Carnahan, the first Missouri woman to become a U.S. Senator, died Tuesday evening after a brief illness. She was 90-years-old.

Her husband, Governor Mel Carnahan, their son, Roger, and Carnahan's aide, Chris Sifford, were killed in a plane crash on the way to a Senate campaign event in southeast Missouri.

Missouri law did not allow his name to be removed from the ballot. Three weeks after his death, Mel Carnahan posthumously won the election.

Acting Governor Roger Wilson appointed Jean Carnahan to fill her husband's seat in the Senate. She served from January 3, 2001 to November 25, 2002.

A public celebration of her life is being planned in St. Louis, with details to be announced at a later date.