By Will Dunham

WASHINGTON, Nov 6 (Reuters) - John D. "Jay" Rockefeller IV, the progeny of one of America's most famous and wealthiest families who during three decades in the US Senate sought expanded healthcare for the poor and excoriated President George W. Bush's handling of the Iraq war, died aged 89 on Friday at his home in Washington, his wife Sharon ‌Percy Rockefeller said.

She added that plans were underway for a service at the Washington National Cathedral.

Rockefeller, a tall, soft-spoken Democrat with liberal views, was elected in 1984 to the first of ‌his five six-year terms representing West Virginia in the Senate after two terms as governor of the poor coal-mining state.

Rockefeller voted in 2002 in favor of the Republican Bush's measure authorizing the Iraq war, which began with a US-led invasion in 2003. He ​later expressed regret over that vote and, as head of the Senat...