July 12, 2012 — WASHINGTON — Former Maine Congressman Peter Kyros of Portland died Tuesday at age 86. Kyros, a Democrat, represented Maine’s 1st Congressional District from 1967 to 1975.
A Portland native, Kyros built Liberty ships in Bath at the beginning of World War II before enlisting in the Navy in 1943. He later graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy and, after leaving the Navy in 1954, received his law degree from Harvard Law School.
According to biographical information in his obituary in The Press Herald, the late Sen. Edmund Muskie of Maine recruited him to run for Congress in 1966. Among other things, he is credited with helping establish the current 200-mile offshore territorial limit that is aimed at protecting U.S. fishing interests from foreign fishing fleets.
“His love of the ocean was something constant in his life, and during his tenure in Congress, he fiercely defended the fishermen and coastal interests of Maine’s First Congressional District on the Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee,” Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, said in a statement today. “Indeed, Peter’s energy and enthusiasm remained forever boundless, and his tireless efforts on behalf of our beloved state will continue to reverberate for generations to come.”
Kyros served in Congress during a turbulent period that included the Vietnam War and the Watergate scandal that led to President Nixon’s resignation. He traveled to Vietnam four times and, although initially supportive of the war policies, he began speaking out against it despite his military background.
“All of us in the Congress are at fault for not standing up at that time and being more meticulous about what we do,” Kyros said in an interview with WCSH’s Bill Green. “But it was a Cold War era and it was kind of hard. But you can study it and learn lessons from it as we approach Iraq.”
After losing to Republican David Emery in 1974, Kyros would continue to work in Washington, D.C., initially for the U.S. State Department and later for several firms active on Capitol Hill.
He is survived by his wife, Susan, daughter Joanne Carol Kyros, son-in-law Thomas Schaufelberger, daughter-in-law Valerie Kyros, and five grandchildren.
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