JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- After more than two decades of public service earning the respect of political friends and foes, Sen. Jim King passed away Sunday after a battle with pancreatic cancer, a family spokeswoman said.

He was 69.

King represented the 8th District, which includes portions of Nassau, Duval, St. Johns, Flagler and Volusia counties, since 2000.

King served as Senate president from 2002 to 2004.

Prior to election to the Senate, King served 12 years in the Florida House.

"You couldn't help but love Jim King. He lived every day with such enthusiasm and joy," said Gov. Charlie Crist. "Jim leaves a great legacy of service -- including his significant efforts to promote biomedical research to find cures for the horrible diseases that bring suffering to so many Floridians. We mourn the loss of this great Floridian."

King underwent surgery in June to remove tumors from his pancreas after being diagnosed with cancer a month earlier. His final term in the Senate was to expire in November 2010.

"Not even cancer could rob him of his sense of humor and spirit," said former press aide Sarah Bascom, who announced King's death Sunday on behalf of the family. "He was the Jim King that we all know and loved until the very end."

King is survived by his wife of almost 30 years, Linda Braddock King; daughters Monta Bolles of Tampa and Laurie Anne Dolan of Gainesville; sons-in-law Maj. Chuck Bolles and Rick Dolan; and three grandchildren.

Memorial services will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at the St. John's Cathedral in Jacksonville and in Tallahassee at 2 p.m. on Aug. 4 in the House Chambers at the Capitol.

King Won Respect, Friends

King's death sparked a series of statements from notable forces in local, state and national politics.

"Sen. Jim King did more than practice public service, he lived it. Though he served on the opposite side of the aisle from me as a state representative and state senator, it was plain to see that Senator King deeply cared for his constituents and worked hard to make our state more prosperous," said Rep. Kendrick Meek, D-Miami. "Florida was better off because Senator Jim King embarked upon his chosen career and we gained because he served the public. Duval County was fortunate to be represented by one of the best and Floridians are mourning the loss of this great man. My family extends our condolences to the King family during this time of remembrance and celebration."

"Today, the residents of Florida and Jacksonville lost a true friend with the passing of Senator Jim King," said Jacksonville Mayor John Peyton. "His dedication to working toward the betterment of this community will be hard to match, as will his heart for service to the people he represented. He will undoubtedly be remembered as one of the all-time great public servants.

"My thoughts and prayers are with Linda King and the entire King family today and during the difficult days ahead. While Senator King and I worked hand-in-hand on a variety of issues facing our community, my friendship and partnership with him was really forged as we worked together to improve the quality of and access to the St. Johns River. I will be forever grateful to him for his unwavering dedication to improving and protecting our city's most treasured natural resource."

"I believe that his greatest professional legacy will be his efforts related to the St. Johns River. As such, I will work with the Jacksonville City Council to have the marina and park at Sisters Creek renamed in honor of Jim King to serve as a permanent reminder of his work to ensure that the St. Johns River is safeguarded for future generations."

King Takes On Tough Issue

A feisty, plainspoken figure, King fought Gov. Jeb Bush and his own Republican Party over the Terri Schiavo right-to-die battle in 2005. King helped lead a group of Republicans and Democrats who blocked legislation favored by Bush that would have forced Schiavo's feeding tube to be reinserted.

The brain-damaged woman died in 2005 after her husband removed the tube over the objections of her parents. King once told the St. Petersburg Times editorial board that his initial 2003 vote in support of state intervention in the case was "probably one of the worst votes that I've ever done."

A self-made millionaire from Jacksonville, King was elected Senate president in 2002 at a time of economic uncertainty and voter demands to shrink classroom size in the public schools and create a pre-kindergarten program for 4-year-olds.

"I find myself somewhere between the dog and the fire hydrant," King said that year. King, who built a personnel services business into a multimillion-dollar enterprise, decided to jump into politics after years of complaining about "those idiot politicians" in Tallahassee.

In 1986 he ran for a state House seat in northeast Jacksonville, which included the Naval Station at Mayport. The district was barely a third Republican and no Republican had ever been elected there.

"We told him to quit bitching and belly up to the bar," said longtime friend Doug Speeler, a St. Petersburg businessman. He told King that no one would elect a fat politician who smoked. "So he quit smoking!" said Speeler.

Capitalizing on his prominence in the local chamber of commerce and as president of Florida State Seminole boosters in Jacksonville, King campaigned for nine months. He won 56 percent of the vote, benefiting from the "coattails" of Republican Gov. Bob Martinez's win at the top of the ticket.

Both men arrived just in time for the services tax fiasco in the 1987 legislative session. The measure would have extended Florida's sales tax to a host of previously untaxed services, ranging from pet grooming and accounting to advertising and haircuts. It was passed and then repealed weeks later in the wake of an unrelenting barrage of criticism from advertisers and retailers.

King, who was then part of a Republican minority in the Legislature, survived the political fallout. He pushed through a bill in 2007 that allows people to buried with the ashes of their pets, if the animal's cremains are kept in a separate container. This will allow King to be buried with the ashes of his beloved black Labrador, Valentine, who died in 1998.

He had a rapid-fire delivery, a keen sense of humor and a quick mind. Popular with his colleagues, lobbyists and reporters, he didn't mind making fun of his own Falstaffian figure.

"It is self perception," he once said. "Some may look at me and see Jackie Gleason. I look at me and see Sean Connery."

In 1996, he was outmaneuvered by former Sen. Daniel Webster of Orlando for House speaker. But he learned from the setback and bested Webster to become Senate president in 2003-04.

"We were charmed by his humor and challenged by his intellect," Senate President Jeff Atwater said Sunday. "His presence, counsel, and most importantly his friendship will be deeply missed."

King Destined For Greatness

Born on Oct. 30, 1939, King moved with his family from Brooklyn, N.Y., to Florida when he was a first grader after his father returned from World War II. He attended public school and community college in St. Petersburg and became the first person in his family to earn a high school diploma when he graduated from Boca Ciega High School in 1957.

He earned undergraduate and masters degrees in business administration from Florida State. King became a full-time politician in 1997 when he and his partners sold their personnel company to Wackenhut for $16 million. King's share was $5 million.