Ted Wilson, three-term Salt Lake City mayor, dies at 84 [Video]

SALT LAKE CITY — Ted Wilson, a three-term mayor of Salt Lake City and one-time candidate for Utah governor, died Thursday of congestive heart failure and Parkinson’s disease, according to family.

The 84-year-old was first elected to the mayor’s office in 1975 and served 10 years before leaving. He later ran for U.S. Senate in 1982, challenging Sen. Orrin Hatch, and later in 1988.

A statement released after Wilson’s passing said he was surrounded by family when he died.

“As the eternal optimist, he loved people and they loved him back,” the statement read. “We are honored that his memory will live on in the legacy he built as Salt Lake City Mayor, through the countless people he has taught and mentored, his decades of humanitarian service, and his mountaineering accomplishments.

“Ted’s lifetime priorities were his family and public service. He built and nurtured many deep and meaningful friendships and …