By Alabama Public Radio
Selma, AL – Former Selma Mayor Joe Smitherman died Sunday at a Montgomery hospital. He was 75. Visitation will be held Monday evening at the Smitherman Building in Selma from 5 to 7. Services are set for 11 a.m. Tuesday at First Baptist Church. Smitherman was City Council member from 1960 until he was elected mayor in 1964. Selma City Council member Cecil Williamson says Smitherman will be remembered as a political legend in the Selma area. Williamson says Smitherman had suffered from a heart condition and had hip surgery due to a fall at his home.