President Obama Issued a Statement on Mayor Tom Menino's Death

With a heavy heart, President Barack Obama released a statement sending his condolences to the Menino family and loved ones. On Thursday morning, October 30, Boston's longest serving mayor, Tom Menino, passed away after losing his courageous battle with cancer.
Mayor Menino, 71, ceased his cancer treatments just last week in order to spend time with his family and close friends.
President Obama came to Boston and joined Mayor Menino to memorialize the victims of the tragic Boston Marathon bombings in 2013.
Said President Obama,

Michelle and I were saddened to hear of the passing of Tom Menino. Bold, big-hearted, and Boston strong, Tom was the embodiment of the city he loved and led for more than two decades.  As Boston's longest-serving mayor, Tom helped make his hometown the vibrant, welcoming, world-class place it is today.  His legacy lives on in every neighborhood he helped revitalize, every school he helped turn around, and every community he helped make a safer, better place to live.  I had a chance to speak with Tom’s wife, Angela, yesterday, and today our thoughts and prayers are with her, with the entire Menino family, and with the people of Boston who Tom loved so much, and who loved him in return.

Update: Details of Mayor Tom Menino's Funeral Will Be Released Soon
According to a statement released by the Menino family, Menino lost his battle with cancer just after 9 a.m. Thursday morning. He was surrounded by his wife Angela, loving friends and family.
He had just published his memoir, Mayor for a New America on October 14. More: BostInno Looks Back at Mayor Tom Menino's Enduring Contribution to Boston.
Reaction:  

• #RIPMyMayor: Boston Pours out Grief on Twitter
• Boston's Tech Community Recalls Menino's Contribution
• Boston's Higher-Education Leaders Reflect on the Life & Impact of Mayor Tom Menino
• Boston Chefs and Restaurateurs Remember Mayor Menino

Added Secretary of State, and Beacon Hill native, John Kerry,

Tom Menino was Boston. In fact, if you just look around the city, you’ll see with your own eyes that he is Boston today.

Others talked, Tommy worked.

Crime fell, population rose, the skyline became world-class, schools got better, the financial, academic, and medical sectors thrived, and neighborhoods became more diverse. It was in those neighborhoods that Mayor Menino made his mark.

His example for 20 years as Mayor taught us all a lot about people and politics, and his example the last year taught us even more about grace and grit.

Tom Menino had the big bold beating heart of a street politician. People came up to the Mayor and asked him to fix things, and he followed up and fixed them, whether it was streetlights or parks or getting the snow plowed so people could get to work on time. He knew what built community. He felt the city and the neighborhoods in his bones.

He combined good old fashioned common sense with modern, state-of-the-art vision, and he delivered for Boston block by block, neighborhood by neighborhood. He was fiercely loyal and unbelievably reliable.

Teresa and I send Angela and their children and grandchildren a big hug and big prayers.

Together with their beloved Tom, Angela, Susan and Tommy Jr., Bill and Lisa, Giulia, Will, Olivia, and Thomas III, Samantha, and Taylor embody something fundamental: the love that is a great family.

God Bless them all, and God Bless Tom Menino.