St. Paul’s longest-serving Mayor, George Latimer, passes at 89
George Latimer, who served at Mayor of St. Paul for 14 years from 1976 to 1990, died August 18. He was 89 years old.
Born in Schenectady, New York, Latimer moved to St. Paul in 1963 to practice at Robin’s, Davis, & Lyon’s after finishing law school. Before being elected to Mayor, Latimer served on the St. Paul Board of Education.
In 1986, Latimer ran for Governor, losing the DFL primary to Rudy Perpich, who went on to win the general election.
After his tenure as Mayor, Latimer served as the Dean of the Hamline Law School and served as an under secretary for the Department of Housing and Urban Development in the Clinton administration.
He also served as a Regent at the University of Minnesota, Chair of the National Equity Fund, President of the National League of Cities, a Distinguished Professor at Macalester College, a Labor Arbitrator and as a member of countless volunteer boards and committees.
St Paul Central Library was renamed George Latimer Central Library in 2014 in his honor by then mayor Chris Coleman.
In June 2022, Latimer was moved to a hospice, but was later discharged from their care, going on to live another 2 years.
He leaves behind five children, 11 grandchildren and a great grandchild.
Read the full obituary twincities.com/obituaries/george-a-latimer.
