Former Mountain Brook Mayor Terry Oden, who served two decades in the office, died Wednesday.

He was 85. Lawrence Terry Oden served as mayor from 1996 through 2016.

Prior to that, Oden was a member of the city council from 1992 through 1996, and spent 11 years on the planning commission.

A graduate of Woodlawn High School and Auburn University, Oden came from a family of public service. His father rose to become a battalion commander with the Birmingham Fire Department, and Oden later served in the U.S. Secret Service for 25 years.

His first assignment was as part of the detail protecting Jacqueline Kennedy and her two children in New York, following the assassination of John F. Kennedy.

“It was always Mr. (Oden) with her,” he said in a 2003 interview. “I didn’t think she even knew my first name.”

He later provided security for the family of President Lyndon Johnson, and Ronald Reagan in 1980 during his successful bid for the presidency. He also served as a sky marshal, and later, as a security consultant.

City Manager Sam Gaston said Oden “deeply loved the community.”

“He was very interested in the history of the city,” Gaston said.

Oden was mayor as Mountain Brook made improvements to its police and fire departments, renovated City Hall, refurbished its villages and sidewalks, and saw the beginning of the Lane Parke development.