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SMU lost a good Mustang this week with the passing of Glenn Box. Glenn was a pledge brother of mine at the ATO house in 1978, and as many of you know, played football AND baseball for the Ponies. Glenn was a good man....a leader and a friend. We will miss him....

Glenn Eckley Box first experienced politics as a boy, campaigning door to door with his mother. By the time he was 30, he was elected to the Dallas City Council, where he served three terms, from 1989 to 1995.

Mr. Box, 46, died Thursday of mesothelioma, a rare form of cancer, at Baylor University Medical Center. Mesothelioma is often associated with asbestos exposure. His cancer was discovered during a physical 14 weeks ago.

Visitation will be from 4 to 6 p.m. today at Sparkman/Hillcrest Funeral Home, 7405 W. Northwest Highway.

A memorial service will be at 3 p.m. Sunday at First Baptist Church of Dallas, 1707 San Jacinto St., after a 1:30 p.m. burial in Hillcrest Memorial Park.

"He was servant with a capital S," said Steve Bartlett, Dallas mayor from 1991 to 1995 and now president and chief executive officer of Financial Services Roundtable, a trade group in Washington, D.C.

"He was one of the most decent human beings I've ever known in my life," Mr. Bartlett said.

As a council member, Mr. Box was known for his conservative views. He was a leader in the fight against Dallas' 14-1 electoral system. He also championed the effort to keep gays and lesbians from becoming Dallas police officers.

While on the council, Mr. Box served as chairman of the Public Safety Committee from 1991 to 1995.

"He was a very thoughtful public servant on all the issues that affected the city of Dallas and its citizens," Mr. Bartlett said. "His leadership was in public safety. He was aware of what it took to protect the victims of crime."

Max Wells, who served on the City Council from 1988 to 1997, said Mr. Box was a well-respected leader who was easy to like.

"Even though he was young in age, he was one of the leaders on the council," Mr. Wells said.

Not long after he entered public life, Mr. Box faced a private medical battle. He received a diagnosis of acoustic neuroma, a tumor on the hearing nerve of his right ear. Surgery to remove the tumor, which was pressing against his brain, damaged some of the nerves that controlled his face.

Mr. Wells said the crisis seemed to mature Mr. Box.

"When he came back – he'd been through an experience most of us don't face until later in life – and he was so much more mature and sensitive to other people," Mr. Wells said. "We became really good friends."

In 1995, Mr. Box made an unsuccessful bid for the open 5th Congressional District seat. He lost the Republican primary to Pete Sessions, who is still in Congress.

In June 1996, Mr. Box joined Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc., where he received a number of promotions, most recently to regional vice president responsible for Coke sales in 11 Midwestern states.

Mr. Box was born in Dallas, where he was a standout football and baseball player at W.T. White High School. By his junior year, he was heavily recruited by a number of universities, including Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas.

He decided on Southern Methodist University, where his football career was cut short by injuries.

Mr. Box became interested in a career in politics after a summer working in the office of Rep. Jim Collins, R-Dallas.

He graduated from SMU and earned a law degree from the University of Texas at Austin. He joined the Dallas law firm of Jackson & Walker, practicing real estate and municipal law. He got to know City Council members through the work he did on zoning cases.

In 1987, he was appointed to the Dallas Plan Commission. Within six months, he decided to run for City Council, positioning his campaign one full election cycle ahead of his first run for office.

Mr. Box's mother, Alma Box of Dallas, had introduced her son to local politics in the 1960s, when she took her youngest along for door-to-door campaigning as a member of the Preston West Republican Women's Club.

"He was the love of my life, and he leaves a tremendous legacy to our sons and the city of Dallas," said his wife, April Box of Plano.

In addition to his wife and mother, Mr. Box is survived by two sons, William Eckle

In addition to his wife and mother, Mr. Box is survived by two sons, William Eckley Box and Travis Brunetti Box, both of Plano; a sister, Linda Box Taylor of Plano; and a brother, Steve Box of Dallas.

Memorials may be made to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, First Baptist Church of Dallas or Prestonwood Christian Academy.