Former Mayor Perry McGriff Jr. dies at age 79

Former Gainesville Mayor Perry McGriff — a former Gator baseball and football standout, trusted businessman and elected official — has died at age 79.

City leaders learned of the former mayor's death during Thursday evening's city commission meeting, prompting a recess and some tears. Commissioners displayed his photograph on projectors for the rest of the meeting.

After Thursday's commission meeting ended, Commissioner Craig Carter talked about McGriff's impact on the community.

"Perry McGriff meant a lot to a lot of people around this town,” Carter said. “He was a great role model… and every time you ran into him you left just a little bit happier."

McGriff was one of the best two-sport athletes to play at the University of Florida, a wide receiver in football and an outfielder on the baseball team. He was twice named all-SEC in 1958 and 1959 and is a member of the UF athletic Hall of Fame. He played basketball as a freshman.

He was drafted by both the Baltimore Colts of the NFL and the San Diego Chargers of the AFL, but went the baseball route instead, spending two years in the Kansas City Athletics before going into the insurance business.

McGriff ran a successful insurance business for many years and was a former member of the Florida House of Representatives.

He sat on any number of philanthropic boards, donating gallons of blood and biking hundreds of miles for LifeSouth Community Blood Centers.

In 2011, he was given an "ethics in business" award and he was the face of the successful One Mill for Schools efforts — because he was seen as someone who held the community's trust. He chaired its oversight committee, a group that met several times a year to keep tabs on how the dollars were being spent.

McGriff served as Gainesville city commissioner from 1968 to 1971, including as mayor commissioner in 1970-71, and as Alachua County commissioner from 1974 to 1980. He lost a bid for Florida Senate in 1980 before serving in the House from 2000 to 2002.

He also helped create the Five Points of Life Bike Ride for the LifeSouth Community Blood Center to raise awareness about the need for blood products.

"I think that's probably the greatest thing that I've done in my life, because that's just so powerful when you know somebody's life is being saved because you've done enough to care, to make a difference in people's lives," he told The Sun in 2012.