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Blair, who had smoked [[cigar]]s since he was a teenager, died of [[heart]] failure at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital in [[Houston, Texas|Houston]]. He had undergone open-heart surgery for a valve replacement. While he appeared to have recovered from the surgery itself, his systems shut down thereafter. Politicos from throughout central Louisiana attended the funeral, including legendary attorney Camille F. Gravel, Jr., Rapides Parish [[Sheriff]] William Earl Hilton, then Alexandria Mayor Randolph, who had ended Blair's Senate career, and District Attorney [[Jam Downs|James Crawford "Jam" Downs]], the son of Blair's old rival, C. H. "Sammy" Downs.<ref name=bannister>Steve Bannister, "Farewell: Cecil Blair Was an Original," ''Alexandria Town Talk,'' July 11, 2001, 1.</ref>
Blair, who had smoked [[cigar]]s since he was a teenager, died of [[heart]] failure at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital in [[Houston, Texas|Houston]]. He had undergone open-heart surgery for a valve replacement. While he appeared to have recovered from the surgery itself, his systems shut down thereafter. Politicos from throughout central Louisiana attended the funeral, including legendary attorney Camille F. Gravel, Jr., Rapides Parish [[Sheriff]] William Earl Hilton, then Alexandria Mayor Randolph, who had ended Blair's Senate career, and District Attorney [[Jam Downs|James Crawford "Jam" Downs]], the son of Blair's old rival, C. H. "Sammy" Downs.<ref name=bannister>Steve Bannister, "Farewell: Cecil Blair Was an Original," ''Alexandria Town Talk,'' July 11, 2001, 1.</ref>
The Reverend Larry Taylor, pastor of Blair's Emmanuel Baptist Church, said that the first time he met Blair he thought that he had seen "a figure who had stepped out of the pages of southern literature." Taylor lamented that "Even someone with a heart as big as Cecil R. Blair's couldn't keep going forever. Cecil had a big heart that finally gave out."<ref name=bannister/>
The Reverend Larry Taylor, pastor of Blair's Emmanuel Baptist Church, said that the first time he met Blair he thought that he had seen "a figure who had stepped out of the pages of southern literature." Taylor lamented that "Even someone with a heart as big as Cecil R. Blair's couldn't keep going forever. Cecil had a big heart that finally gave out."<ref name=bannister/>