AUGUSTA -- Sylvia Viles Lund -- a two-term legislator, three-term Augusta city councilor and mother of six -- died Tuesday at the age of 75.

Lund was widely admired for her dedication to family and community in a public career that spanned more than 35 years.

Her son, Alfred Lund, said Wednesday his mother died of complications from hemochromatosis, a disease discovered by doctors two years ago.

The illness allowed levels of iron to build up in her blood, damaging her major organs, he said.

"It's been coming for a while," Alfred Lund said of his mother's death. "She's a very private person, so it will shock a lot of people. But it finally brings her some peace, so I'm glad about that."

Lund died at MaineGeneral Rehabilitation & Nursing Care at Gray Birch.

"I don't think she was happy unless she was doing something to help other people," he said. "The hallmark of her public service was, I don't think anyone ever accused her of being self-serving.

"She was always committed to helping other people and helping the community. She was involved on the local school board when I was in junior high and she was a member of the state Board of Education by the time I was in high school. She tended to follow the path upward."

Leaders at all levels of government paid tribute Wednesday to Lund's service.

"Sylvia was a woman of gentle manner, good humor and deep wisdom," Augusta Mayor Roger Katz said. "She was the voice of experience and grace on the council and we all will miss her terribly. Sylvia was just an extraordinary person. We have lost a role model."

Gov. John Baldacci said Lund's death was "a terrible loss for the city of Augusta and the state of Maine."

"Sylvia was a thoughtful, caring public servant, a great credit to Augusta and the state," Baldacci said. "Her loss is deeply felt."

A longtime family friend, U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, said Lund will be remembered for giving much to her community and Kennebec County.

"Her extraordinary public service made Augusta a stronger city," Collins said. "All of us who were lucky enough to be among her friends will miss her so much. My heart goes out to her family, particularly her son, Will, and his wife, Sara, whom I have known for 20 years."

U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe praised Lund's "devotion to the Augusta City Council, her service in the Maine State Legislature and her commitment to strengthening education."

Lund announced in August she would not continue to seek re-election to her at-large City Council seat due to her health. She had interrupted her service on the City Council for a hip operation, expecting the recuperation to be brief. But she was never able to return.

"Sylvia was uniformly admired and respected for her wisdom, strength of character, her compassion and her good humor," Augusta City Manager William Bridgeo. "She led by example and inspired her colleagues on City Council to insist on the highest standards in all they undertook. Her soft-spoken and gentle demeanor only augmented her extraordinary power of persuasion.

"Her passionate dedication to her family and her community were and will continue to be a source of inspiration to all of us who knew and loved her," he said.

Former Mayor William Dowling said he often looked to Lund for guidance and advice. "She was a balanced leader I looked to on a continuing basis. ... She was my guide, if you will, my GPS on the City Council," Dowling said.

Her last project, directed from her hospital bed, aimed to collect contributions to begin a tree-planting program in Augusta's Mill Park to honor her father, William Payson Viles.

"She was willing to put her own pain aside and continue to do work she thought would benefit others," Alfred Lund said.

Lund married Augusta lawyer and former Maine Attorney General Jon Lund in 1952 and the couple had six children: five sons and a daughter. They were divorced in 1974.

While Lund perhaps was best known for the variety of public positions she held, her son, Will Lund, said she still put those closest to her first.

"Family was her first priority. And then public service was a close second," he said, adding: "She was a classy and dignified lady."

Lund served two terms in the Maine House of Representatives from 1978 to 1982 and ran unsuccessfully for the state Senate in 1992 and 2000.

She was chairwoman of the Augusta Board of Education from 1989 to 1992, Will Lund said. She was a member of the State Board of Education from 1972 to 1977 and served as its chairwoman from 1972 to 1975.

She was the director of the state Office of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention from 1989 to 1990, served on the Maine Board of Environmental Protection from 1977 to 1978, received the Kennebec Valley Chamber of Commerce Lifetime Achievement Award in 2001, and was chairwoman of the United Way of Kennebec Valley in 1999.

She attended Cony High School and graduated from Westover School in Middlebury, Conn., in 1950. She graduated from Wellesley College with a bachelor's degree in political science and received a master's degree in public administration from the University of Maine in 1988.

Her family plans a public memorial service at 2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 29, at St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Augusta.

Former legislator and Augusta City Councilor Sylvia Lund died Tuesday evening her son Alfred Lund said Wednesday. She was 75. We recall her years of service from our photo archives. Click here.

Gary Remal -- 621-5642

gremal@centralmaine.com