Former Houston councilman Himes dies

HOUSTON — Former city councilman and longtime emergency responder Lee Himes died Monday from an ongoing illness.

In addition to his stint on the council from 2007 to 2010, Himes worked with the city as a liaison between its tiny police department and the city’s fire department. Later, he liaised between the city council and the city’s public safety departments.

He retired as a police officer in East Texas. During his failed bid in 2010 to retain his council seat he told the Frontiersman that he came to Alaska on vacation and decided to stay after he landed a 50-pound king salmon.

Tom Hood, the city’s fire chief, said he worked with Himes since about 1994, when Himes served under him during Hood’s stint as chief of that department.

“He was an all-around good guy and cared a lot about people,” Hood said.

Rosemary Burnett, a longtime city councilwoman and, for a brief stint, the city’s mayor, said she’d just talked to Himes Sunday night.

It was kind of an odd coincidence, she said. She had a feeling that she just wanted to talk to Himes a few days prior, but couldn’t raise him on his phone. Himes returned her call sort of out of the blue. They didn’t talk about much of anything in particular.

“That makes me feel good that he wanted to talk to me before he died,” Burnett said.

She shared Hood’s assessment of him.

“I don’t have any bad things to say about him he was overall a genuine nice guy and he did a good job on the council,” Burnett said. “The city has lost a good guy.“

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.