CHARLESTON, W.Va. — U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito says former Congressman David McKinley, who died last week at the age of 79, was the same whether he was walking the halls of the U.S. Capitol or behind the desk at his Wheeling engineering firm.
“You never had trouble finding, number 1, how he stood on things, he was very firm in his beliefs and in finding him, you never had trouble finding him. He was very accessible,” Capito said Monday during an appearance on MetroNews Midday.
Capito said when McKinley left Congress after a 12-year run, that ended in early 2023, he continued to serve in Wheeling. area.
“I think when he went home he did the same passion for Wheeling and the surrounding areas that he had done for the state and the country,” Capito said.
McKinley will be remembered in funeral services Monday, April 27, at St. Matthews Episcopal Church in Wheeling beginning at 11 a.m. Visition is set for Sunday from noon until 3 p.m. at West Virginia Independence Hall in downtown Wheeling.
McKinley was West Virignia Republican Party Chairman from 1990-1994. West Virginia Secretary of State Kris Warner, who was GOP chair from 2000-2004, said McKinley had to make some tough decisions for a GOP at that time that was struggling financially.
“David did some things that needed to be done in the state party,” Warner said “That was a time when money was extremely tight. He moved the offices of the state party to Wheeling where he lived.”
Warner said he’ll remember McKinley’s time in Congress as being very productive.
“He was an engineer–he sees things as black and white but he had an excellent ability to pull a staff together that could make things happen and make sure he got the maximum use out of his time in the district,” Warner said.
Capito said McKinley was a “person’s person.” She said he would often ride back to the district by bus in order to meet and talk with people.
Capito said he cared about coal mining and coal miners. She remembered Monday the time he brought a Democratic member of the U.S. House to his district.
“David invited him to come to West Virginia, to go into a coal mine to see the lives and hear the voices of our coal miners and he had him stay at his house and offered him West Virginia hospitality,” Capito said.
U.S. Senator Jim Justice called McKinley a “great man” in responding to his death.
“I was around David a lot when I was Governor, and I’ll say just this — he was a great man that cared a whole lot about our state. Cathy and I are heartbroken and praying hard for his family, his friends, and all of West Virginia tonight. We’ve lost a good one,” Justice posted on X.
Former Charleston Mayor Danny Jones served with McKinley in the state House of Delegates in the late 1980s. He said he was one of the most conservative Republicans. Jones said once McKinley reached Washington he wasn’t shy about making tough choices.
“He became more pragmatic,” Jones said Monday. “He voted for the infrastructure bill which enabled us to have WiFi and to have a lot of great things in West Virginia and that cost him the eleciton.”
McKinley is survived by his wife of 45 years, Mary, four children, and several grandchildren.