Thomas Menino, the longest-serving mayor of Boston died from hid battle with cancer on Thursday at age 71, his spokesperson reported.
Mayor Menino was Boston's first Italian-American to be elected for the position ending decades of Irish domination in city politics. Elected for the first time in 1993 and as the city's 53rd mayor, he became a four-time re-electionist giving him the longest service of 20 years as Boston City's mayor.
The "bold, big-hearted" mayor announced in March 2013 that he would not run for a sixth term for a series of hospitalization for respiratory infection and other health issues. Two months after the end of his final term in January, he announced that he was diagnosed with cancer. Mayor Menino's cancer is an advanced form that has spread to his liver and lymph nodes.
After diagnosis, the former mayor began undergoing chemotherapy. The doctors ruled out surgery for his cancer is a unique type which can't be traced to an origin point within the body. He said that fighting with cancer is "the most profound challenge of his life".
"Bold, big-hearted, and Boston strong, Tom was the embodiment of the city he loved and led for more than two decades," President Barack Obama said in a statement. Obama also added that Mayor Menino helped to make Boston the "vibrant, welcoming, world-class place it is today."
He was also described by Michael Bloomberg, former New York mayor as a "terrific mayor and a close partner". Bloomberg and Menino formed the Mayors Against Illegal Guns in 2006 starting with 15 mayors that eventually grew to a coalition of more than 1,000 mayors from around the country.
One of the major crises Mayor Menino faced during his term was the April 15, 2013 terror bombings at Boston Marathon. The bombings killed three people and wounded more than 260. In handling the situation, he remained "steady as always, showing the same determined leadership that made his career in public service one of Boston's most important and most influential," Bloomberg said.
Just two days before the bombings, Mayor Menino had undergone surgery on a broken bone but still went out of the hospital to personally lead his shaken city through the crisis.
The former mayor said he "loved every minute" of being a mayor even through Boston's darkest hours. He never even sought after running and taking a seat in a higher position.
Menino died in the company of friends and family, said his spokesperson, Dot Joyce. When he left the position, he tweeted, "Thank you Boston. It has been the honor and thrill of a lifetime to be your Mayor. Be as good to each other as you have been to me."
Mayor Menino is survived by his wife, Angela and his children, Susan and Thomas, Jr. and six grandchildren.
