Former Jerusalem mayor Uri Lupolianski died overnight Wednesday, aged 74. Lupolianski had suffered from a lengthy illness and was recently hospitalized.

Lupolianski was the capital’s first, and so far only, ultra-Orthodox mayor, serving in the post between 2003 and 2008. He was later convicted of bribery and sentenced to prison for accepting bribes in the Holyland affair in order to fund Yad Sarah, one of Israel’s largest charitable organizations, which he founded.

He is survived by his wife, 12 children, and over 50 grandchildren.

Lupolianski’s funeral procession will set out at 11 a.m. from his home in the Sanhedria neighborhood of Jerusalem to the capital’s Har HaMenuchot cemetery, where he will be buried.

“We are stunned and pained at the passing of our revered leader, a pillar of kindness,” Yad Sarah said in a statement. “Who can fill his place? Woe to the ship that has lost its captain.”

MK Meir Porush, who also served on the Jerusalem city council and was the ultra-Orthodox candidate for mayor after Lupolianski, said “the Jewish people, and the city of Jerusalem in particular, have lost one of the most precious, kind people.”

Economy Minister........

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