<p>Even though he became mayor at 70, Bobby Sikes breathed life into the heart of Lawrenceville.</p><p>He re-energized the once-dead town square with coffee shops, restaurants and even a theater.</p><p>Sikes died Saturday night after a battle with leukemia. He was 74.</p><p>He was just weeks away from the end of his four-year stint as head of the Gwinnett County seat. On a doctor's recommendation, the Navy veteran was taking a break from politics but said he hoped to run again once he recovered.</p><p>"Lawrenceville was his love, and he wanted to see it a better city," said City Councilwoman Judy Jordan-Johnson, whose father, Rhodes Jordan, is a former Lawrenceville mayor. "I regret he wasn't able to see the culmination of some projects that were dear to his heart."</p><p>In the last couple of years, Sikes had focused on the widening of Jackson Street to reroute traffic out of the town square. He also recruited the Aurora Theatre, which has been practicing and performing at city hall while a theater is built.</p><p>Sikes, who lived in Lawrenceville since 1945, served on the City Council for 14 years before running for mayor in 2002. He ran Bobby Sikes Oldsmobile, Pontiac and Buick dealerships for 28 years.</p><p>Three men are running Tuesday to succeed Sikes as mayor of the town of 28,000 people about 32 miles northeast of Atlanta.</p><p>___</p><p>HASH(0x1cd98d4)</p>
