Montgomery City Councilman Tracy Larkin died Tuesday after an extended illness, his colleagues confirmed. He was 74.

Larkin was an Army veteran who was serving his fifth non-consecutive term on the council. The Montgomery native was first elected in 1999 and beat Marche Johnson in a runoff to win back his District 3 seat in 2019.

“He was a leader and one of those people who brought everyone together,” council president Charles Jinright said. “I was close to Tracy – the way we worked together, trusted each other and showed trust to the city.”

Jinright described Larkin as an enlightened man who had a strong desire to make his district and the whole city better.

“A lot of times I think about the things we did together with the city over the years,” Jinright said, pointing to the construction of Riverwalk Stadium as an example.

“He was a fair guy. He worked for the city and he always wanted to do things fairly with everybody. He was very team oriented and was making sure we always stood together, and we were always standing together,” Jinright said

Larkin attended the first Montgomery City Council meeting of 2020 and was absent for the remainder of the year with what he described to The Montgomery Advertiser as an upper respiratory illness.

After the council deadlocked on a vote and failed to approve a mask ordinance in June, Larkin told The Montgomery Advertiser that the issue should have been “common sense.”

“I think the issue is a common sense one that should be defined by medical professionals,” Larkin said at the time. “I am disappointed that I couldn’t be there for the vote.”

Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed implemented the ordinance by executive order the following day with the support of Councilman Glen Pruitt, who had voted against it. The council voted in favor of a mask ordinance at the next meeting.

Pruitt said he learned of Larkin’s death Tuesday along with other council members.

“It breaks my heart,” Pruitt said. “He was a very good friend of mine.”

Larkin was on the board of directors for the Montgomery Zoo and the E.D. Nixon Foundation. He was a graduate of Booker T. Washington High School in Montgomery and earned bachelors and masters degrees from Alabama State University.