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Ohio state Sen. Ben Espy, who died at 81, to be remembered at service for breaking barriers

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Ohio state Sen. Ben Espy, who died at 81, to be remembered at service for breaking barriers
News

News

Ohio state Sen. Ben Espy, who died at 81, to be remembered at service for breaking barriers

2025-01-10 13:14 Last Updated At:13:31

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Respected Ohio attorney and former state Sen. Ben Espy will be remembered at a celebration of life Monday for his decades of service to the state and its capital city.

Espy died on Jan. 4 at age 81 after a brief illness.

Espy, a Democrat, broke racial barriers as the first Black person to serve as president pro tem of the city council in the capital, Columbus, for most of the 1980s and as minority leader of the Ohio Senate, where he served from 1991 to 2000.

Though his hopes of attaining higher office were ultimately dashed, Espy continued to earn honors from members of both parties throughout his career.

Then- Democratic Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann tapped Espy as his top lieutenant in 2007 and chose Espy in 2009 to lead a high-profile internal investigation into allegations of sexual harassment at the office. The final report was damning.

“I don't think anyone anywhere is going to question Ben Espy's integrity," Dann’s spokesperson, Leo Jennings, remarked at the time.

Two years later, Republican Maureen O'Connor invited Espy to deliver the keynote address at her swearing-in ceremony as Ohio's first female chief justice.

Espy's most lasting efforts were probably in the city of Columbus.

He established the city's Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration, now one of the nation's largest, as well as the Columbus Youth Corps, a program teaching ethics and professionalism to young people that was designated as one of President George H.W. Bush's “points of light.”

He also created “The Job Show,” a cable program produced by the city that helped people find jobs. It was named the best municipal cable program in the U.S. in 1986 and 1987.

“He was the community’s person," daughter Laura Espy-Bell said. "We’re hearing countless stories of people whose lives were changed because of my dad.”

Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther remembered Espy as “a remarkable leader and advocate” for city residents. U.S. Rep. Joyce Beatty, who represents Columbus in Congress, said Espy's legacy "is felt in every corner of community.”

Columbus City Council President Shannon Hardin called Espy “a towering statesman and a fighter for justice and equality.”

“Ben Espy is the kind of trailblazer on whose shoulders so many of us stand now,” Hardin posted on X.

Born in Nashville, Tennessee, on July 12, 1943, Espy graduated in 1961 from Sandusky High School, where he played football and ran track. He was recruited to Woody Hayes' Ohio State Buckeyes football team, where he was a running back. He graduated from The Ohio State University in 1965 with a bachelor's in political science and went on to earn a law degree from Howard University in 1968.

Espy began his legal career as a corporate lawyer for Allegheny Airlines and then entered the U.S. Air Force, serving as an assistant staff judge advocate. He returned to Ohio in 1972, where he began the first of his stints at the Ohio Attorney General’s office before starting his own law practice and eventually entering politics.

He and his wife, Kathy Duffy Espy, who died in 2022, had four daughters and 11 grandchildren. Espy-Bell said that by day her father worked hard for the community, but at night he always had time to read a bedtime story to his daughters or attend his grandchildren's soccer games.

Espy was involved in a freak accident in 1984 in which he was struck by a falling cornice that broke off an aging building in downtown Columbus as he walked by. He lost the lower part of his right leg.

Espy-Bell said her father didn't let that slow him down.

“Two things got him through that,” she said. “One was the strength of my mother to carry our family through, raising four little girls. The other was the strength of my father, in his resiliency, to come back even stronger and even better.”

Derrick Clay, president and CEO of the Columbus Chamber of Commerce, said Espy's story “reminds us all that challenges can become opportunities to make an even greater impact.”

Republican Gov. Mike DeWine ordered flags to be lowered to half-staff in Espy's honor on the day of his funeral.

FILE - Executive Assistant Attorney General Ben Espy speaks at a news conference, May 2, 2008 in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato, file)

FILE - Executive Assistant Attorney General Ben Espy speaks at a news conference, May 2, 2008 in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato, file)

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Veteran Gael Monfils reaches his 35th ATP final in Auckland aged 38

2025-01-10 13:22 Last Updated At:13:31

AUCKLAND, New Zealand (AP) — Gael Monfils became the second oldest player since 1990 to reach a final on the men's elite tennis tour after beating American Nishesh Basavareddy 7-6 (5), 6-4 in the semifinals at Auckland on Friday aged 38 years, 131 days.

Ivo Karlovic holds the ATP Tour record, having won through to final in Pune, India in 2019 at the age of 39 years, 311 days. Monfils edges Stan Wawrinka who was aged 38 years and 124 days when he reached the final at Umag, Croatia in 2023.

Karlovic also reached the final at Den Bosch in 2017 aged 38 years, 110 days while Roger Federer (Basel in 2019 aged 38 years and 80 days) and Rafael Nadal (the 2024 Swedish Open at 38 years and 48 days) also are in the top five.

Frenchman Monfils has been breaking records steadily in Auckland to reach his 35th ATP Tour final. When he beat Jan-Lennard Struff to reach the quarterfinals, he became the oldest player in the professional era to reach the last eight in Auckland.

He became the oldest-ever semifinalist in Auckland when he beat Facundo Diaz Acosta 6-3, 6-1 to reach his 73rd ATP Tour semifinal. Only Novak Djokovic has played more.

Monfils will face Zizou Bergs of Belgium in Saturday's final.

“Everybody knows I’m a warhorse on the court, I don’t give up easy,” Monfils said after his semifinal. “I’m very pleased with the way I got through today, it wasn’t easy."

The 19-year-old Basavareddy also has been making waves in Auckland. He is the youngest American since Reilly Opelka to reach an ATP Tour level semifinal on hard courts. Opelka did so aged 18 in Atlanta in 2016.

He turned pro in December after a stand-out 2024 season on the ATP Challenger Tour.

AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis

France's Gael Monfils plays a forehand to Serbia's Novak Djokovic during their match at the Brisbane International in Brisbane, Australia, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Pat Hoelscher)

France's Gael Monfils plays a forehand to Serbia's Novak Djokovic during their match at the Brisbane International in Brisbane, Australia, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Pat Hoelscher)

France's Gael Monfils reacts during his match against Serbia's Novak Djokovicat the Brisbane International in Brisbane, Australia, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Pat Hoelscher)

France's Gael Monfils reacts during his match against Serbia's Novak Djokovicat the Brisbane International in Brisbane, Australia, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Pat Hoelscher)

France's Gael Monfils looks on during his match against Serbia's Novak Djokovic at the Brisbane International in Brisbane, Australia, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Pat Hoelscher)

France's Gael Monfils looks on during his match against Serbia's Novak Djokovic at the Brisbane International in Brisbane, Australia, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Pat Hoelscher)

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