JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Family and friends will pay their respects to a former Jacksonville city councilman and state representative.
Terry Fields will be laid to rest on Friday morning. Fields, who was 66 years old, died on Feb. 8 after a brief sickness.
Councilman Matt Carlucci said he and Fields worked together on city council in the 90s. Carlucci said that’s how they were able to become good friends who respected each other.
“Councilman Fields was really a sweet guy. He had a kind nature. But I will say when he took to this floor on behalf of his constituents, he had a great command,” Carlucci said. “He always cared about the whole of our city and not just a part.
Carlucci said that Fields was a vocal supporter of helping the city bring the Jaguars to town.
Fields also supported the development of the River City Marketplace on the city’s Northside in 2015 when he said it was his biggest accomplishment in public life because of the effect the mall had on jobs and services on that side of town.
Councilwoman Ju’Coby Pittman called Fields her big brother, a mentor and friend. In fact, she said he inspired her to run for city council.
“He said, ‘Now listen. I have poured into you for years. It is time for you to step up and get out of your comfort zone.’ That was who Terry was. He was a person that would identify issues. He was a very good listener. He believed in bringing people together. What mattered to his neighborhood, it mattered to him,” Pittman said.
Fields was a councilman from 1991 to 1998. While in that elected position, he led the charge for renaming several streets in the city after prominent people, including renaming the Haines Street Expressway and 20th Street Expressway after Martin Luther King Jr. He also helped rename Florida Avenue after A. Phillip Randolph.
Fields also served as a state representative from 2000 to 2008.
Fields’ funeral will be held at Greater Macedonia Baptist Church on Edgewood Avenue at 11:30 a.m.
Those who are planning to come are asked to wear any color with an accent of red.
Flags are also flying at half-staff at the state capitol and throughout Duval County to honor Fields.