Funeral services will be held today – Oct. 17 - for Mervyn Dymally, a former congressman, state senator and assemblyman who was the state's only black lieutenant governor.
Dymally died Oct. 7 in Los Angeles at age 86.
A viewing will be held from 9 a.m. to noon at , according to spokeswoman Jasmyne Cannick. The funeral service will be held at 12:30 p.m.
Among those expected to attend the service are Gov. Jerry Brown, state Attorney General Kamala Harris, County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and a host of current and former state officials.
The funeral service will be followed at 2 p.m. by a public memorial service at Faithful Central Bible Church, 321 N. Eucalyptus Ave. in Inglewood.
Rep. Laura Richardson, D-Long Beach, and Assemblyman Isadore Hall, D-Compton, are among those expected to speak.
Dymally, a native of Trinidad and Tobago, served as California's 41st lieutenant governor from 1975 to 1979, under Brown, after serving in the Assembly from 1963 to 1966 and the state Senate from 1967 to 1975.
Dymally was defeated in his bid for re-election by Republican Mike Curb in 1978, then elected to represent a southern Los Angeles County congressional district in 1980. He remained in the House until 1993.
Dymally again served in the Assembly from 2002 to 2008. He was barred by term limits from seeking re-election and was defeated in a Democratic primary in 2008 for a state Senate seat.
Dymally is survived by his wife, a daughter, a son and three sisters.
A memorial fund has been established to honor his career and legacy. Donations can be made online at https://www.wepay.com/donations/dymallymemorialfund.
In lieu of cards, flowers and gifts, the family asked that donations be made in his name to "causes and organizations that he so passionately cared about -- health and education,'' Cannick said.
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