A celebration honoring former Florida Gov. Buddy MacKay will be held next Wednesday, Jan. 15, at 1 p.m. at Fort King Presbyterian Church in Ocala. That’s according to the Ocala Star Banner. A reception will follow the service,

Kenneth "Buddy" MacKay, Florida's most recent Democratic governor who took office on the death of Gov. Lawton Chiles, has died at age 91.

Floridians honored the lifelong public servant not just for his 23 days as governor, but his time as a state legislator, congressman and diplomat.

OCALA, Fla. — Former Florida Gov. Buddy MacKay passed away at the age of 91. MacKay served in the military, the Florida House and the Florida Senate before he served as lieutenant governor under then-governor and Democrat Lawton Chiles. Chiles then had a heart attack and died in December of that year.

Buddy MacKay, former Florida governor, has died at 91. He served briefly after the death of Gov. Lawton Chiles in 1998.

Former Florida Gov. Kenneth “Buddy” MacKay, 91, died peacefully during an afternoon nap at his home in Ocala surrounded by his wife and sons on New Year’s Eve, a family spokesman said Thursday.

John Kennedy, Florida Capital Bureau reporter for the Tallahassee Democrat newspaper, spoke with FOX 35's Garrett Wymer about covering Buddy MacKay and how history will remember him. MacKay, 91, died on New Year's Eve at his home in Ocala.