LA HIV Activist Howard Jacobs Dies at 45

HIV/AIDS activist and West Hollywood City Hall staffer Howard Jacobs died Thursday morning after a two-decade battle with HIV. He was 45.

City council member Jeff Prang, for whom Jacobs worked as a deputy, notified friends and the press on Thursday. "He was not only my former employee and appointee, he was a close friend, as he was to many here at City Hall," Prang wrote in an e-mail.

Up until his death, Jacobs was an advocate for HIV/AIDS and became involved with several youth-related organizations like First 5 LA and Gay and Lesbian Adolescent Social Services. He also served as chairman of the board for Being Alive and commissioner for West Hollywood's rent stabilization division.

Prang told reporter Karen Ocamb that Jacobs's death was sudden and unexpected. He entered care at a local hospital two weeks ago complaining about a pain in his side and found that he had a malignant tumor in his liver.

A funeral for Jacobs will be held in New York, but a memorial service will also take place in West Hollywood.