Nur Omar Mohamed, the father of U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, was a mentor to many young people and a man whose support of his daughter's political ambition was unusual for his generation.
Mohamed died Monday of complications from COVID-19. He was 67.
Omar said Friday her father was "everything" to her and her siblings, and made what should have been a much more difficult life feel easier for his children.
"We all think of him as our shield," Omar said. "He wanted to shine a light of happiness in our lives and it feels right now that there's a shadow of darkness, and I don't know how long that stays."
A former civil servant in Somalia, Mohamed was both an elder in the Minneapolis Somali community and a "good man" who was very proud of his daughters, said Abdi Warsame, the former Minneapolis City Council member and head of the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority.
"He had a big laugh. He could speak Russian a little bit. He was up to speed on current affairs," Warsame said. "He was an elder, but more cosmopolitan than most."
Mohamed was seen regularly walking or chatting on the streets in Cedar-Riverside where he lived. He spoke fluent Italian and Arabic, in addition to Somali, English and Russian. He returned to visit Somalia often.
He held several positions in civil service in the Somali government and worked for the postal service in Minneapolis after he came to the U.S. His nicknames in Cedar-Riverside were "Colonel" and "Superdad."