The city of San Francisco woke up on Tuesday morning to learn that its mayor, Ed Lee, had died suddenly overnight of an apparent heart attack. He was 65.

Lee is being remembered as an effective city bureaucrat who became an unlikely choice for mayor in 2011 when Gavin Newsom left the position to become lieutenant governor.

His body laid in state at City Hall over the weekend ahead of a memorial service there on Sunday. Speakers at Sunday's memorial included U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, California Gov. Jerry Brown and former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, along with Lee's two daughters, Brianna and Tania.

“Ed Lee showed our children that public service can still be noble,” said London Breed at Sunday's memorial service. As president of the Board of Supervisors, Breed became acting mayor upon Lee's death.

Lee was a hero to many in the Asian-American community as the city's first Asian-American mayor.

"Finally, at a very inclusive city, we were even more empowered to take on challenges like running for office and taking on leadership roles because of what he started and what he envisioned for us," said Larry Pascaul, who visited City Hall on Friday to pay his respects to Lee, whose body was lying in state ahead of a memorial service on Sunday.

Lee's time as mayor was not without controversy, especially over his support of tech companies that some felt hurt the character and limited opportunities in San Francisco, but few seemed to doubt his character.

"He was a beautiful, lovely man," said San Francisco Congresswoman and Democratic House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi at City Hall on Friday. "He never had an unkind word to say about anyone, and nobody had an unkind word to say about him."

KQED's Scott Shafer, Marisa Lagos and Billy Cruz contributed reporting to this story.