TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) - Robert “Bob” Walkup, who served as Tucson’s mayor from 1999 to 2011, died Friday night. He was 84.
Walkup died after a long battle with pulmonary fibrosis, according to his son Jonathan Walkup, who said his father “was everything a dad could be and more.”
A Republican who told KVOA-TV in a December interview that he never made decisions based on partisanship, Walkup served three terms as mayor and left office after choosing not to run for a fourth term.
Current Tucson Mayor Regina Romero, who served on the City Council for four years while Walkup was mayor, said Walkup “was a born statesman” who “was nothing but gracious and approachable.”
Walkup had a vision for a lively downtown, advocated for funding for Tucson’s new streetcar system and provided leadership on economic development and other concerns that “positioned Tucson for a strong recovery out of the Great Recession,” Romero said in a statement.
Walkup is survived by his wife, Beth.
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