Donald J. Irwin, Connecticut Congressman and Treasurer, Dies at 86 NORWALK, Conn. - Donald J. Irwin, who served three terms in Congress from southwestern Connecticut, two years as the state treasurer and four years as this city's mayor, died on Sunday at his home here. He was 86. The cause was heart problems, his wife, Janet, said. Mr. Irwin held the Fourth Congressional District seat from 1959 to 1961 and from 1965 to 1969. He was the first Democrat to win the seat in the normally Republican district in 18 years. A year after losing his 1960 re-election bid, Mr. Irwin was appointed state treasurer by Gov. John N. Dempsey, a Democrat, to finish the term of John A. Speziale, who left office to become a judge. Mr. Irwin won back the Congressional seat in 1964. He lost the 1968 election for the House seat to Lowell P. Weicker Jr., a future United States senator and Connecticut governor, who was then a Republican but later became an independent. Mr. Irwin returned to his law career after the defeat and went on to serve two terms as Norwalk mayor from 1971 to 1975. Donald Jay Irwin was born on Sept. 7, 1926, in Argentina, to American parents. Shortly after beginning undergraduate studies at Yale in 1945, he left school to serve in the Army. After his military service he returned to Yale, earned his bachelor's and law degrees and became a lawyer. He also served on the Norwalk Board of Education before winning election to Congress.