Local activist Joe Herzenberg passed away at about 6 p.m. Sunday at UNC Hospitals.
In 1987, Herzenberg was elected to the Chapel Hill Town Council, becoming North Carolina's first openly gay elected official and the first in the south.
Mark Kleinschmidt, an openly-gay Chapel Hill town council member, along with several other local leaders, say they owe their political career to Herzenberg. Kleinschmidt calls Herzenberg his hero.
"Joe's one of the most special people in the world to me," Kleinschmidt said. "He was a mentor - not just in politics."
The Equality NC Foundation will honor Joe Herzenberg at the Equality Conference & Gala on Saturday in celebration of the 20th anniversary of his 1987 election. He served on the Chapel Hill Town Council from 1987 to 1993.
He was also a founder of Equality NC PAC, then NC Pride PAC, and served on that board for more than a decade. Since his 1987 election, Herzenberg served the town on several advisory boards.
"You look around the community and see the things that make it a wonderful place to live - you see Joe in all of it," Kleinschmidt said. "Whether that's social politics, our greenways, our libraries, our downtown. Those things were hugely important to them.
"Making sure Chapel Hill was a wonderful place to live and work was something he committed his life to."
