Virginia state flags will fly at half-staff for the next 30 days to honor former Gov. Linwood Holton, who died Thursday at the age of 98.

The directive came from Gov. Ralph Northam, who described Holton as a man who smiled as “he walked his children to Richmond’s public schools during the tensest moments of desegregation. He faced down Virginia’s demons and enabled this Commonwealth to look ahead.”

Holton, a Republican, served as governor of Virginia from 1970 to 1974 and was a crusader against racial discrimination.

He was the father-in-law of U.S. sen. Tim Kaine.

(Photo courtesy Richmond Times-Dispatch)