Ron Mims, a longtime member of the Birmingham Water Works Board, died this weekend after a long illness.

Mims, who was 67, was also a former longtime pastor of Green Liberty Missionary Baptist Church in Birmingham.

“The citizens of Birmingham and Jefferson County and the state of Alabama are going to truly miss his quiet, steadfast, and stable leadership at the Birmingham Water Works,” board member George Munchus told AL.comtoday.

“Ron was a real asset when he was appointed,” said Munchus, currently the longest-serving board member. “That was probably one of the best appointments that the City Council could have made, to have appointed someone with the knowledge, skills and ability that he brought to the organization.”

The Water Works board today confirmed Mims died on Saturday.

Mims spent his 30-year career with the Water Works and entered senior leadership in 2002 where he served as general manager and assistant general manager through 2004.

Mims left the utility in 2004 to pursue his ministry.

Mims returned to the agency as board member in 2015, when he was appointed by the Birmingham City Council and was then unanimously elected to serve as board chair. He was last reappointed to a third term on the board in late 2020.

“When I was first appointed to the Board, Director Mims was my Chairman. I admired his passion for the employees and the customers we serve everyday,” the board’s chairwoman Tereshia Huffman said in a statement this afternoon. “This was a man who worked his way from the entry level all the way to the top level of this utility. He was a true fighter, and I found that to be admirable and commendable, and I’ll carry those qualities he left with me for the rest of my life. My prayers are with his family during this time.”

Mims earned a Masters of Public & Private Management at Birmingham–Southern College and a degree in history from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Mims in 2017 was saluted by the agency when the Water Works’ boardroom was named in his honor. In a 2017 story by the Birmingham Times, Mims recalled starting at the Water Works shortly after graduation from Ramsay High School, Mims. He worked as a customer service representative making $3 an hour.

“We often take access to clean water for granted, and forget the fact that someone had to work very hard to provide that access,” Mims told the Birmingham Times. “Water grows areas, and knowing that I directly had a hand in bringing water to people in five counties is both a matter of pride and humility.”

Binnie Myles, a former longtime water works employee who knew Mims for several years, said his career at the agency prepared him with keen insight for board leadership.

“He was a very good chairman and just wonderful to work with. He was good to the employees, and he was just genuinely concerned about the customers,” Myles told AL.com. “He worked his way up, so he could identify with both the customers and the staff.”

Mims had also served as chairman of the Titusville Development Corporation, a non-profit agency aiming to provide quality affordable housing in the historic neighborhood in which he grew up.