'It's been a good trip.' Father of Mayor Pete Buttigieg dies after illness

SOUTH BEND — The father of South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg died Sunday afternoon.

Buttigieg, who is running for president, announced his father’s death on Facebook. His father’s last words were: “It’s been a good trip.”

“So it has. We love you, Dad,” the mayor wrote in the post.

Buttigieg said his father, Joseph, 71, died after an undisclosed illness. He said his father was surrounded by family.

“We miss him already but his love of life, and his moral passion, will stay with us forever,” the 37-year-old wrote.

Buttigieg described his father as a friend, colleague, thinker and educator, who “touched countless lives.” His father — along with his mother, Ann Montgomery — taught English at the University of Notre Dame. The couple raised their only child, who is now a White House hopeful, in the North Shore Triangle area of South Bend.

“We are left with memories of his powerful intellect, his extensive legacy, his personal warmth and his deeply felt love for Mom, me, and all those close to him,” Buttigieg wrote in his post on Facebook, where he shared several family photographs.

Pete Buttigieg announced on Twitter last week that he was launching a presidential exploratory committee. The mayor posted a video with his announcement — as of Sunday, it had been viewed nearly a million times.

Joseph Buttigieg was a professor emeritus of English and retired director of the Hesburgh-Yusko Scholars Program at Notre Dame. He joined the Notre Dame faculty in 1980, according to a news release from the university.

He also was a fellow in Notre Dame's Nanovic Institute for European Studies and Keough-Naughton Institute for Irish Studies and director of the university's Stamps Scholars Program.

Joseph Buttigieg grew up on the Mediterranean island of Malta, earning bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Malta, a second bachelor's degree from Heythrop College in London and his doctorate from the State University of new York at Binghamton, according to Notre Dame.

Joseph Buttigieg directed the Hesburgh-Yusko program from its first year in 2010 through 2017. The program is a merit-based scholarship and leadership development initiative. It is named for the late Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, Notre Dame's former longtime president.

Arrangements are pending.