Don A. Newton, who led the Birmingham Area Chamber of Commerce for more than a quarter century, died today after a brief illness. He was 88.

His son, Don Newton Jr., said funeral services will be Thursday at 3:30 p.m. at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church.

Newton retired in 1999 after 25 years leading The Chamber, the precursor of the Birmingham Business Alliance. He was honored at the time as a man who took over a struggling, in-the-red agency, doubled its membership and worked behind the scenes to secure several big name projects for the Magic City.

Newton was credited with persuading U.S. Airways and Southwest Airlines to offer flights at Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport, and worked to recruit Olympic soccer to Birmingham during the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. He also helped raise money for the Vulcan Park Foundation and renovation, and helped secure federal funding for the future Interstate 22 project.

“I can proudly say that Don and I always had a friendly, open-door policy with each other,” former Birmingham Mayor Richard Arrington said of Newton in a 1999 Birmingham News story. “If I needed him, he was there, and if he needed me, I was there.”

His biggest regret, according to his son, was never landing an NFL team for Birmingham.

“We got really, really close on more than one occasion,” he said. “He and the Chamber spent a lot of time and energy with the NFL, owners, and people in Birmingham to make all the pieces of the puzzle come together.”

Newton served with the U.S. Navy as an air intelligence officer and squadron operations officer, and was stationed in Guam, Washington State and Alaska.

A graduate of the University of Alabama with a degree in journalism, he later headed the Louisville, Miss. Chamber of Commerce before moving on to Delta Council in Stoneville, Miss.

He moved to Birmingham to head the newly created Metropolitan Development Board in 1970 before leaving for the Chamber in 1974.