Francis X. Ahearn, 89; was Boston City Council president

Francis X. Ahearn of Brighton and Cotuit dedicated most of his life to public service.

"It meant a great deal to him," said his son Frederick "Rick" of Alexandria, Va. "He put public service ahead of personal gain throughout his entire career."

His career included serving as president of the City Council, as the Commonwealth's first deputy secretary of state, and as acting secretary of state.

Mr. Ahearn died Dec. 12 at a rehabilitation facility in Bourne of complications from a fall at his residence on Cape Cod. He was 89.

Mr. Ahearn was born in Brighton and attended schools there. In 1929, while attending Taft Junior High School, he met Doris E. Johnson. "They walked to school together in the eighth grade," his son said. She would become his wife of 66 years."

After graduating from high school in 1935, Mr. Ahearn attended Boston College because he wanted a Jesuit education, his son said. He graduated magna cum laude in 1940 with a degree in economics. He then attended Boston College Law School.

Mr. Ahearn served in the US Navy during World War II.

In 1951, Ahearn successfully ran for City Council. In 1952, he was elected council president. That same year, his son said, the Boston Junior Chamber of Commerce named him and US Representative John F. Kennedy one of the "10 outstanding young men of Massachusetts." He was reelected president of the City Council in 1953 and 1955.

While council president, Mr. Ahearn served as acting mayor on several occasions, including when President Eisenhower visited Boston.

"He got to give Eisenhower the key to Boston," his son said.

In 1957, he served as first deputy secretary of state. Mr. Ahearn retired from public service in 1984. He later did community volunteer work, mostly at the Arnold Arboretum.

Mr. Ahearn ran unsuccessfully for secretary of state in 1960 and lost a bid for state representative in 1962.

He also was an adjunct professor at Boston College Law School, New England School of Law, and Calvin Coolidge Law School.

Raymond L. Flynn, former mayor of Boston, said he met Mr. Ahearn in the early 1970s. Flynn called him "an extremely capable man whose intimacy and understanding of municipal finances was extraordinary."

In addition to his son and wife, Mr. Ahearn leaves another son, Kevin P. of Lynn.

A funeral Mass will be said today at 11 a.m. in St. Ignatius Church in Chestnut Hill.

Brian Ballou of the Globe staff contributed to this obituary.