Former City Councilor Chuck Turner died yesterday after a long fight with cancer. Turner, who was 79, worked for decades as a community organizer in Boston and served on the City Council from 1999 to 2010.

Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, Turner came to Boston in the 1960s to attend Harvard University. He worked as a community organizer in Lower Roxbury, helping to found the Madison Park Development Corporation.

For much of the 1970s, he worked on helping secure people of color in Boston jobs, with a particular focus on the construction industry. He founded the Boston Jobs Council, an organization that worked to expand access to employment for people of color in Boston.