Ed Lee, the first Asian-American mayor of San Francisco who presided over the city's growth as a high-tech juggernaut, died early Tuesday, his office said in a statement. While no cause of death was given, former mayor Willie Brown told San Francisco media that the 65-year-old Democrat suffered a heart attack while shopping for groceries late Monday. "It is with profound sadness and terrible grief that we confirm that Mayor Edwin M. Lee passed away on Tuesday, December 12 at 1:11 am (0911 GMT) at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital. Family, friends and colleagues were at his side," Lee's office said in a statement.
Lee, born in Seattle in 1952, was one of six children of Chinese immigrants who had come to the country in the 1930s. His rise to mayor in 2011 marked a historic step for the large Chinese-American community in famously liberal San Francisco. Chinese immigrants first came to California during the mid-19th century gold rush and railroad building spree, and suffered decades of discrimination.