Disposition
10/28/2002 (Buried)
Democratic Sen. Paul David Wellstone of Minnesota, was the son of Jewish immigrants from Russia, born July 21, 1944 and raised in Arlington, Virginia. His mother was a cafeteria worker and his father was a writer and federal employee. His father left Russia shortly before the Bolshevik Revolution that took the lives of Paul's grandparents. Leon and Minnie instilled in their son a commitment to justice and civic activism. Paul died in a Minnesota plane crash. He was 58. Wellstone's wife, Sheila Ison Wells tone, and daughter Marcia also died in the crash. In 1963, Wellstone married Sheila Ison, his high school sweetheart. They have two surviving children, David and Mark and six grandchildren.