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Lawrence “Larry” Hughes, a former Manassas city manager who also served as a Prince William deputy county executive for over a decade, died late Monday, sources told InsideNoVa. He was 85.

Hughes served as Manassas city manager for over 12 years and as a deputy county executive in Prince William County before that for 14 years.

Hughes retired from the Manassas role in January 2012 before returning as for a brief interim city manager stint the next year.

He also served as interim manager for Warrenton and other Northern Virginia jurisdictions, according to Manassas Vice Mayor Mark Wolfe, as well as 

Hughes was notable for his continued participation in the International City/County Management Association, Wolfe added, formerly known as the International City Managers’ Association.

“Larry was a neighbor, he was a friend of mine,” Wolfe told InsideNoVa in a Tuesday evening phone call. “He was one of the people who was instrumental in talking and persuading me to get involved in local government. He was the first city manager that I had the pleasure of working with, and obviously was a pillar of local government throughout Northern Virginia for decades and decades and decades.”

Wolfe said Hughes was an integral part of the “renaissance” of Manassas, noting the redevelopment of Old Town.

“We in the city of Manassas owe Larry just a tremendous debt of gratitude for his service and what he was able to start and build in our community,” Wolfe said. “Manassas would not be anywhere near as nice a place to live and to work if it wasn’t for Larry.”

Wolfe highlighted the Harris Pavilion, the ARTfactory, improvements to Main Street and Battle Street and the expansion of Micron as aspects of the city that were all “tied together” and stemmed from Hughes’s leadership.

“Larry was a passionate believer in the power of local government to make a positive difference in people’s lives and in outcomes for communities,” Wolfe said. “He had a distinct viewpoint — which not everyone agreed with — and he was willing to work with people to try to move things forward. He would build a consensus, but he was forceful — and he very much had a vision of what he thought certainly Manassas could be, or should be, and was willing to work for that very diligently, very hard.”

Hughes is survived by his wife, Christina, and children Tanya, Todd, Lauren and Alex. The couple lived in Manassas.