Former Davenport Mayor Thomas W. Hart, 70, died Wednesday, Jan. 24, at Genesis Medical Center, East Campus, surrounded by his family. (His obituary can be seen here.)
A Memorial Mass will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 10, at St. Anthony’s Catholic Church in downtown Davenport. The Mass will be livestreamed and can be viewed by visiting Mr. Hart’s obituary at www.hmdfuneralhome.com.
Visitation will be held from 4 to 7 p.m., Friday, Feb. 9, at the Halligan-McCabe-DeVries Funeral Home, Davenport.
“He was such a wonderful man. … He was so intelligent. He was so generous with his time, and he could look at issues from many different perspectives,” Marion Meginnis, Davenport City Council member for the Third Ward, told the QCBJ on Monday, Jan. 29.
Ms. Meginnis, who knew Mr. Hart for many years, added that many people in the region don’t know that Mr. Hart served as Davenport mayor for three terms, starting in 1984. She said the 1980s were an incredibly tough decade for Davenport with many people and businesses leaving the city during the farm crisis years. During that era, there was a move to tear down the Forrest Block building in downtown Davenport in an effort to attract more businesses and people to the downtown area. As mayor, Mr. Hart opposed that move in order to save the historic building.
“I think he sacrificed his political career (over that issue),” Ms. Meginnis said, adding that Mr. Hart devoted much of his life to helping the community.
The city of Davenport released this statement to the QCBJ on Monday, concerning the former mayor: “Our deepest condolences go out to former mayor, Thom Hart’s family. His contributions to the City are appreciated.”
In 1973, at the age of 20, Mr. Hart was elected to serve as Davenport’s Fourth Ward alderman. He later served on the Scott County Board of Supervisors before being elected mayor of Davenport in 1984, serving three terms. He went on to consult for the former Iowa-Illinois Gas & Electric Company and then to the Quad-City Development Group, where his leadership continued to benefit the community until his retirement in 2004. Mr. Hart later retired in 2012 from the Iowa Department of Economic Development.
Also, he served as chair of the Scott County Democratic Party for many years and as a commissioner for the Iowa Department of Transportation.
Survivors include his children: Mary-Kathryn Hart, Washington, D.C., and Stephen Hart (Ashley), Normal, Illinois; siblings: Mary Hart, Iowa City, Ann Hart Wernz (Bill), St. Paul, Minnesota, Margaret Hart (Ralph Mohr), Minneapolis, Minnesota, Therese Hart, Willimantic, Connecticut, Linda Hart, Bettendorf, Brian Hart, Des Moines, Kathy Hart (Armando Tasistro), Watkinsville, Georgia, Dan Hart, Fort Myers, Florida, Maureen Hart (Bill Schmidt), Princeton, David Hart (Mary Zabriskie), St. Louis, Missouri, Jim Hart (Lisa), Ted Hart (Anita), all of Kansas City, Missouri, Lisa Hart (Tom Abbott), Petersburg, Alaska, and Jeni Hart (Fergus Lynch), Seattle, Washington; brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law: David Major, New York City, Diane Burgett (Mark), Coal Valley, and Karen Steen, Rock Island, and aunts and uncle, John and Madonna Hart and Pat Moriarty and many nieces, nephews and cousins.
In addition to his wife, Jane, Mr. Hart was preceded in death by his parents and siblings: Stephen, B.J., Kevin, Michael and Pat Hart; and in-laws Le Wirth, Sue Johnson and Matt Steen.
“Above all else, Thom loved his family and friends spending much of his life supporting, celebrating, and cheering on the accomplishments of those he loved. Becoming a friend of Thom meant you became part of his larger extended family who were frequently on his mind, around his table, and in his prayers,” according to his obituary.
