RALEIGH (AP) ó Former Gov. Bob Scott, a member of a populist political dynasty in North Carolina who helped push the first retail cigarette tax to pay for public kindergarten and later ran the community college system, died Friday at the age of 79.
Scott, whose health had been declining for months, died before 3 a.m. at Hospice Palliative Care Center of Alamance County, according to his daughter, Meg Scott Phipps.
“We will miss him and we know that he loved this state and the people in this state,” Phipps told The Associated Press. “We’ll miss his humor and his compassion.”
Scott, a Democrat, served as governor from 1969 to 1973, and was part of a political family that saw three generations get elected to statewide political offices. His father, Kerr Scott, also was governor and a U.S. senator. Phipps was elected state agriculture commissioner in 2000.
Bob Scott later served as president of the North Carolina Community College System from 1983 to 1995.
The ex-governor’s funeral is scheduled for Tuesday morning at Hawfields Presbyterian Church in Alamance County.
In addition to Phipps, Scott’s survivors include his wife of 58 years, Jessie Rae Scott; three other daughters and seven grandchildren.