Lori Trahan

State Sen. Edward J. Kennedy, a Lowell Democrat whose career in public service spanned a half-century, has died, aged 74, Senate President Karen Spilka said Thursday.

A cause of death was not immediately available.

Spilka, D-Middlesex/Norfolk, shared the news with colleagues in a memo, first published by The Boston Globe, where she called Kennedy a “dear friend and colleague,” who was a “passionate advocate” for residents of his 1st Middlesex District.

In a statement, U.S. Rep. Lori Trahan, D-3rd District, said she and the community "mourn[ed] the loss of a true public servant and a steadfast advocate for Lowell."

Kennedy’s “legacy is written into the very fabric of our community – in the neighborhoods he worked tirelessly to strengthen, the cultural and educational investments he championed, and the countless people he touched with his steady commitment to public service," Trahan continued.

Kennedy “carried Lowell with him in every role he held, never losing sight of the city that shaped him and that he, in turn, helped to shape for the better,” said Trahan, who, like Spilka, extended her condolences to Kennedy’s wife, Susan, and their children.

According to his official website, Kennedy, a lifelong Lowell resident, began his political career in 1977 when he won a seat on Lowell’s City Council, then just 26 years old. He served four terms, from 1978 to 1985.

In 1989, Kennedy was elected a Middlesex County commissioner, holding the post until 1996. He returned to the City Council in 2012. He served as mayor from 2016 to 2017.

In 2018, he won election to the state Senate. His district includes the city of Lowell, as well as the towns of Dracut, Dunstable, Pepperell, and Tyngsboro.

At the time of his death, he was the Senate’s chairperson of the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Bonding, Capital Expenditures and State Assets and the vice chairperson of the Joint Committee on Higher Education.