Jones, Stephanie Tubbs, 1949-2008

Stephanie Tubbs Jones (September 10, 1949 – August 20, 2008) was an American politician who served as the U.S. Representative for Ohio's 11th congressional district from 1999 until her death in 2008. A member of the Democratic Party, her district encompassed most of Downtown and Eastern Cleveland and many of the eastern suburbs in Cuyahoga County, including Euclid, Cleveland Heights and Shaker Heights. She was the first African American woman to be elected to Congress from Ohio.

Tubbs Jones was born in Cleveland as Stephanie Tubbs and graduated from the city's Collinwood High School. She earned an undergraduate degree from Case Western Reserve University, graduating with a degree in Social Work from the Flora Stone Mather College in 1971. In 1974, she earned a Juris Doctor from the Case Western Reserve University School of Law. Tubbs Jones was a member of Delta Sigma Theta sorority.

Tubbs Jones was elected a judge of the Cleveland Municipal Court (1981) and subsequently served on the Court of Common Pleas of Cuyahoga County (1983–91). She then served as the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor from 1991 until resigning in early 1999 to take her seat in Congress. She was the first African American prosecutor in Ohio history, and during her tenure she was the only black woman to serve as prosecutor in any major American city.

In 1998, Tubbs Jones won the Democratic nomination for the 11th congressional district after 30-year incumbent Louis Stokes announced his retirement. This all but assured her of election in the heavily Democratic, black-majority 11th. She won with 80 percent of the vote and was reelected four times with no substantive opposition.

On August 19, 2008, Tubbs Jones was found unconscious in her car, having suffered a cerebral hemorrhage caused by a burst aneurysm. She was taken to an East Cleveland hospital, where she died the next day.