Rep. Maloney’s Husband Dies on Tibet Trek

The husband of Representative Carolyn B. Maloney of New York died after scaling a mountain peak during an expedition in Tibet, Ms. Maloney’s office announced on Saturday.

Trudy L. Mason

Carolyn and Clifton Maloney

Her husband, Clifton H. W. Maloney, 71, had returned safely to a high-altitude base camp after reaching the summit of the 27,000-foot Himalayan peak Cho Oyu, according to a statement from George Arzt, a family friend. Mr. Maloney said he was “the happiest man in the world,” went to sleep and never woke up, the statement said.
The cause of death had not been determined, but an autopsy was expected to be conducted when Mr. Maloney’s body was brought back to the United States, Mr. Arzt said.
On Saturday night, the American Embassy in Katmandu, Nepal, was working out the logistics of retrieving Mr. Maloney’s body from the mountain, a State Department spokesman said.
The statement described Mr. Maloney as an avid climber, sailor and runner who had finished the New York City Marathon 20 times. He was a vice president at Goldman Sachs before starting his own investment firm, C. H. W. Maloney & Company, in 1981. He also served as treasurer of Ms. Maloney’s campaign committee, according to federal election records.
Ms. Maloney learned of her husband’s death early Saturday morning, according to her office. The couple married in 1976 and have two daughters.
Ms. Maloney, a Democrat who represents the East Side of Manhattan and part of Queens,dropped out of the race for the United States Senate this summer, saying she would not challenge Senator Kirsten E. Gillibrand in a Democratic primary.
She was first elected to Congress in 1992, in an upset victory over Bill Green, the Republican incumbent. She was on the City Council for years before that.

M. Amedeo Tumolillo contributed reporting.