Marion Zioncheck
Marion A. Zioncheck (
5 December 1901-
7 August 1936), an
American politician, served as a member of the
United States House of Representatives from
1933 until his death in
1936. He represented the First Congressional District of
Washington as a
Democrat.
Zioncheck was born in
1901 in
Kęty,
Poland, and arrived in
Seattle, Washington with his parents four years later. He attended the
University of Washington (UW) where in 1927 he became president of the student government (
ASUW ). He also earned a
law degree from
UW while making a name for himself as a left-wing leader in the United States Democratic Party and
Washington Commonwealth Federation, which supported his election to Congress in
1932.
As a U.S. Representative, Zioncheck was known mostly for drunken escapades which included dancing in fountains and driving on the
White House lawn. Beset by the press and by critics of
Franklin Roosevelt's
New Deal policies, which he ardently championed, Zioncheck became depressed and hinted that he might not seek reelection in
1936.
His friend and ally,
King County Prosecutor
Warren G. Magnuson, took him at his word and filed to run for Zioncheck's seat on
August 1. On
August 7 1936, Zioncheck completed his will and a farewell note declaring
"My only hope in life was to improve the condition of an unfair economic system that held no promise to those that all the wealth of even a decent chance to survive let alone live." He then leapt from the window of his office on the 5th floor of the Arctic Club Building at 3rd Avenue and Cherry Street in downtown Seattle. His body struck the pavement directly in front of a car occupied by his wife,
Rubeye Louise Nix.
He is buried in
Evergreen-Washelli Cemetery, Seattle, King County, Washington.
