Emory Folmar, Montgomery mayor for two decades, dead at 81

Emory Folmar

MONTGOMERY, Al.
Emory Folmar, a successful shopping center developer who served as Montgomery mayor from 1977 to 1999, has died, the Montgomery Advertiser and WSFA are reporting tonight. He was 81.

Folmar ran for governor at the top of the evolving Alabama Republican ticket in 1982 but lost to George Wallace. Many credit Folmar's leadership with building a real two-party system in Alabama.

Folmar continued in public life after losing to the mayor's office to Democrat Bobby Bright, and ran Alabama's Alcoholic Beverage Control Board from 2003 until Gov. Robert Bentley took office in January.

He led the Alabama Republican Party from 1985 to 1989.

He was first elected to the Montgomery City Council in 1975, and launched to the mayor's office from the position of council president.

Folmar was a decorated veteran of the Korean War, receiving the Silver Star, Bronze Star and Purple Heart. He served as a company commander. During his tenure as mayor he served in a largely ceremonial role as a special assistant to the secretary of the Army and ran the Alabama campaigns of President George H.W. Bush.

Folmar took a law-and-order stance as mayor, sometimes carrying a pistol, and ordered  police to so staunchly oversee music concerts that few played the city in some years. He battled with the ACLU and Democrats of all stripes, including long-time Alabama Democratic Party and Alabama Education Association official Joe Reed (a 24-year member of the Montgomery City Council).

But Folmar's police department also saw controversy, including the 1983 Todd Road incident in which white police detectives entered the home of a black family gathered to mourn a lost relative. The detectives were beaten, other police arrived, and there were claims of police abuse during questioning afterward.

Former Prattville Mayor Jim Byard Jr. told the Montgomery Advertiser tonight that Folmar’s death was “the passing of a senior statesman.” The newspaper quoted  Folmar's son-in-law as saying the city's long-time leader died at home about 7 p.m. Friday night.

He and his wife, Anita, are parents of three children.