(CNN) -- Thomas Menino, who retired this year as the longest-serving mayor in Boston history, died Thursday morning after a battle with cancer, according to his spokeswoman, Dorothy Joyce. He was 71. Menino, who presided over the city's highly lauded urban renewal during his more than 20 years as mayor, announced in March 2013 that he wouldn't run for a sixth term -- a decision that followed weeks of hospitalization for a respiratory infection and other health problems. Two months after stepping down following the end of his final term in January, he announced that he was diagnosed with an advanced form of cancer that had spread to his liver and lymph nodes.
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Thomas Menino, 71, dies after battling an advanced form of cancer
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He retired this year as the longest-serving mayor in Boston history
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Cardinal-Archbishop Sean O'Malley: Menino "placed family, faith and public service above all"
The diagnosis took him completely by surprise, @placeholder said, but he was no stranger to medical hardship.