Former Austin Mayor Frank Cooksey, champion of civil rights and the environment, died early Monday morning, his daughter confirmed. He was 92.
“We’ve lost one of the good guys,” posted Judy Maggio Rosenfeld, a longtime broadcast reporter and founder of Judy Maggio Media. “Frank Cooksey truly cared about Austin, its people and its future.”
A student body president at the University of Texas during the 1950s, lawyer Cooksey rode to municipal office on a progressive political wave that began in the 1970s. Tall and smiling, he served as mayor from 1985 to 1988.
“Frank Cooksey’s concerns were always about the well-being of his fellow citizens, all of them,” said UT historian Tom Hatfield. “He was their advocate. He was serious about serious issues, like fairness and justice, clean water, adequate food, good housing and effective government. He was an exemplary product of the public schools of Austin.”…