Services have been announced for former Lt. Governor George McMillan, who died April 18 at age 81.
They will be held at Birmingham's Southside Baptist Church. Visitation will be there at 1 p.m. Friday, April 25, with a memorial service to follow at 2. The church is located at 1016 19th Street South, Birmingham.
McMillan died Friday afternoon of complications following attempted back surgery.
Gov. Kay Ivey issued an order authorizing state flags to be flown at half-mast in honor of McMillan. Ivey had served with McMillan in the Auburn University Student Government Association in the 1960s when they were both students. McMillan was SGA President, and Ivey was vice president. Over the years, they could tell some stories.
McMillan was born in Greenville and raised there at his grandmother's farm and with his parents in Auburn. He had two brothers and 25 Autrey cousins.
McMillan was elected state representative from Jefferson County in a 1973 special election.
He was elected State Senator from Jefferson County in 1974.
He was elected Lt. Governor of Alabama in 1978.
He was almost elected Governor in 1982 in a close runoff with former Gov. George Wallace.
He practiced law in Birmingham before running for the state legislature. He boldly ran for lieutenant governor at a young age in 1978. He led a multi-candidate field and defeated State Sen. Bert Bank of Tuscaloosa in the Democratic runoff. He served four years as lieutenant governor.
In 1982, Lt. Gov. McMillan, still at a young age, ran for the open governor's seat. His opponent was a powerful veteran — former Gov. George Wallace, attempting to return to the governor's office after having been out of office for four years due to term limits. McMillan and Wallace won the two seats in the runoff, which Wallace won—barely. Wallace was then elected in the general election, defeating Montgomery Mayor Emory Folmar (R).
McMillan made a second run for governor in 1986, but it did not take off like his first run.
In 1989, McMillan founded City Stages, a large musical festival in downtown Birmingham, which he ran for several years.
Over the last few years, McMillan has leveraged his legal and political experience to become a mediator in civil disputes.
When young George McMillan ran for governor against former Gov. Wallace, political commentators inside Alabama and nationally said that McMillan had the potential to become a "new South governor," similar to Gov. Terry Sanford in North Carolina and others. New South governors were considered moderate or progressive on racial issues. By the narrowest of margins, it was not to be.
Jim 'Zig' Zeigler writes about Alabama's people, places, events, groups and prominent deaths. He is a former Alabama Public Service Commissioner and State Auditor. You can reach him for comments at [email protected].
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