Virginia Rose Steen, an advocate for the release of hostages who were held for almost five years in Lebanon, among them her husband Alann, died Dec. 19 in her home. She was 47.

Reached at his home outside Evansville, Alann Steen said his wife had been kept awake by a painful cough through the night before. He took their 9-year-old daughter, Alia, to school and when he returned Virginia had fallen into a sleep from which she would not wake.

Natrona County Coroner James Thorpen said Thursday he suspected she had died from complications of the flu, but was awaiting test results to confirm the diagnosis.

Virginia Steen was born in York, Pa., and trained as an art historian before taking a teaching position at University College in Beirut.

She became a public figure when Alann, who was then a journalism instructor in Beirut, Lebanon, was kidnapped in January 1987, just six months after their wedding.

She worked for the release of the hostages, who were held by Lebanese and Iranian terrorists from The Islamic Jihad for the Liberation of Palestine. The U.S. State Department asked Americans to leave Lebanon in 1989. She did, and continued to press the government until her husband was freed in December 1991.

"She was a lot stronger than me," said Alann Steen of his wife's ordeal during his time as a hostage. He said he learned about what she had done in the years since his release and that her family had filled in other details.

"She had to fight with the State Department to get things done," he said. "She never really stopped until everyone was free and she kept everyone basically activated."

In 1991, President George H. W. and Barbara Bush recognized her work on the hostages' behalf at the national holiday tree lighting ceremony in Washington D.C.

She moved to Casper with her husband in 1992 and taught art history at the University of Wyoming and Casper College until 1994, when Alia was born.

In recent years, she had earned associate degrees in accounting and business at Casper College and graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Wyoming with a bachelor of science degree in accounting.

Last month, she took the certified public account exam after studying for and stressing about it for some time, Alann Steen said. Her exam results have not yet returned.

If Virginia Steen indeed died from the flu, it appears she would be the second flu death in Wyoming this year. The first was a child who died at a Salt Lake City hospital in early December.

Casper - Natrona County Health Department Director Bob Harrington said it was unclear at this point whether hers would be considered a flu death.

There were 1,504 confirmed cases of the flu in the state as of last Friday, though doctors have said the actual number of cases is probably much higher.