Friends and family remember John Ahearn as a feisty Democrat, a watchdog for Arizona utility consumers and an unassuming World War II hero.

Ahearn, who briefly served in the Arizona Corporation Commission in the late 1970s, died Wednesday of complications of bone cancer. The Phoenix resident was 89.

Longtime friends, like fellow attorney Herb Ely, said Ahearn was courageous both on and off the battlefield.

He had been awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the Silver Star and the Purple Heart among other honors for his leadership as a company commander on June 6, 1944, when his Army battalion landed on Utah Beach during the invasion of Normandy. In going after wounded soldiers, Ahearn stepped on a mine. He lost his right leg below the knee and part of his left foot.

Fifteen years later, his sacrifice was profiled in a national magazine and that gained the attention of Arizona Democrats who nudged him into politics, according to Ahearn's son, Stephen, 46.

In 1964, Ahearn ran against incumbent Republican John Rhodes to represent Maricopa County's District 1 in the U.S. House of Representatives. He lost but maintained an interest in politics. He made a bid for the state Corporation Commission in 1978. He found defeat again, but the next year, he was appointed to fill a vacancy on the commission. Defeat came again in 1980, however, when he ran for a four-year term.

Even though Ahearn's time in office was brief, he was a champion behind the scenes, friends and family members said.

"He helped shape the Democratic Party," said Ely, a former state chairman of the party. "He was a feisty guy with a marvelous sense of humor."

Paul Eckstein, another longtime friend and fellow attorney, called Ahearn a "man of extraordinary physical and moral courage. . . . He survived the horrors of war and served as an inspiration to all who knew him."

A highlight of Ahearn's life was convincing the Arizona Legislature in 1983 to establish the Residential Utility Consumer Office, a consumer watchdog group that represents the interests of residential utility ratepayers. His son, Stephen, now serves as RUCO's director.

Renz Jennings, who served on the Corporation Commission from 1985-89, said there was "nobody with a finer sense of outrage about injustice than John Ahearn. He spared fools but didn't spare knaves."

A visitation will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Monday at Hansen Mortuary, 8314 N. Seventh St. in Phoenix. The funeral is at 10 a.m. Tuesday at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church, 4715 N. Central Ave. in Phoenix.

Survivors include his wife, Irene; sons Stephen, John and Michael; daughters Mary Ahearn Lee, Denise Ahearn and Kathleen Johnson; and five grandchildren.