Former Ironton City Council member and businessman Eugene Mooney died Wednesday after a brief illness. He was 93 years old.

Mooney served on city council from the early 1960s

to the mid-1980s. Merrill Triplett served on council with Mooney in the 1990s. He remembered Mooney as “a gentleman and a nice person to work with.”

“I consider it a privilege to have worked with him,” Triplett said. “He always had the city at heart. I had nothing but the highest regard for him.”

Ray “Doc” Payne also served with Mooney on council in the 1800s.

“He was concerned about the city, totally,” Payne said. “I thought he was a pretty good egg.”

Payne recalled that Mooney was firm in his beliefs and not afraid to chastise others in municipal government if he thought they did not have the needs of the city at heart.

“There was one council meeting where some council members were voting ‘no’ on just everything that came up,” Payne recalled. “And he said ‘Some of you people would vote against fresh air.’”

In addition to his service on city council, Mooney also served on the Woodland Cemetery Board and in the U.S. Navy during World War II. He was owner and operator of Gene Mooney Wholesale. He was also a member of First United Methodist Church.

His son, Dan Mooney said his father may be best remembered for his beautification efforts throughout the city, particularly at the old Memorial Hall, at Woodland Cemetery and at the Mooney residence.

“That was his big thing,” Dan Mooney said. “He took a lot of pride in the city.”

In addition to his son, Eugene Mooney is also survived by his wife, Thelma, two grandchildren and two great grandchildren.

Graveside services will be 11 a.m. Saturday at Woodland Cemetery with Dr. Wayne Young officiating.