ST. LOUIS (AP) - Services are pending for Francis R. Slay, a retired St. Louis restaurant owner and former state lawmaker whose son is current St. Louis Mayor Francis G. Slay.
Relatives said Francis R. Slay was 83 when he died Wednesday at St. Louis County's St. Anthony's Medical Center of apparent heart disease.
Francis G. Slay is in his third term as mayor.
The elder Slay long was influential in the region's politics, having served as a Democratic committeeman for 45 years. He was elected state representative in 1966 and 1968, then spent eight years as the city's recorder of deeds.
He also was the longtime co-owner of the former Slay's Restaurant, where the mayor worked as a young man.
The city named a park after the elder Slay in 2009.