 nicholas joseph "nick" begich, sr. (april 6, 1932 â undetermined, presumed dead october 16, 1972) was a democratic party member of the united states house of representatives from alaska. he disappeared in a plane crash in alaska in 1972. his son mark begich is currently the junior u.s. senator from alaska. ==early life and education== begich was born and raised in eveleth, minnesota. his father, john begich (begiÄ), was born in podlapaÄa, croatiabegich, tom. (2006-04-30).   interviewed by judy ferguson. anchorage daily news. retrieved on 2007-04-04. tom begich says of his father, "until i was nearly 12, i grew up with a man who was a legend, the son of croatian immigrants, but who disappeared oct. 16, 1972, into the clouds." and his mother, anna (nÃ©e martinich), was also croatian.http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~battle/senators/begich.htm he attended saint cloud state university (bachelor of arts, 1952) and the university of minnesota (master of arts, 1954) before pursuing his doctorate at the university of colorado and the university of north dakota. ==career== begich worked as a 
1932_births 1972_deaths Accidental_deaths_in_Alaska Alaska_Democrats Alaska_State_Senators American_people_of_Croatian_descent Democratic_Party_members_of_the_United_States_House_of_Representatives Educators_from_Alaska Members_of_the_United_States_House_of_Representatives_from_Alaska Missing_air_passengers People_declared_dead_in_absentia People_from_Anchorage,_Alaska People_from_Eveleth,_Minnesota People_from_St._Cloud,_Minnesota Politicians_elected_posthumously University_of_Alaska_Anchorage_people University_of_Colorado_alumni University_of_Minnesota_alumni University_of_North_Dakota_alumni Victims_of_aviation_accidents_or_incidents_in_the_United_States