By Khalida Sarwari
A longtime Sunnyvale city councilman passed away in Michigan this morning.
Councilman Ron Swegles, 67, was in the final year of his second term in office, and city officials said his health had been declining.
He died at about 9 a.m. Michigan time.
“Ron’s death has struck all of us on council very deeply,” Mayor Melinda Hamilton said in a statement. “He will be sorely missed by his fellow council members.”
Swegles was first elected to the City Council in 2003. He served as vice mayor from 2004 to 2005 and then as mayor from 2005 to 2006.
He had also been on the parks and recreation commission, and had served as its chair.
Additionally, Swegles had been a member of Sunnyvale’s senior advisory committee, the downtown planning committee and the planning commission, and had served on the board of the Sunnyvale Chamber of Commerce.
He was a veteran of the U.S. Navy’s Submarine Service.
Swegles is survived by his wife Gail and his two children, three stepchildren, nine grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.