Gov. Sean Parnell has ordered all state flags to be lowered to half-staff on Friday in memory of former Rep. John M. Sweet.

Sweet died on Sept. 11 in Boulder, Colorado. He was 88.

Born in Parker, Pennsylvania, Sweet served in the U.S. Marine Corps during World War II. He was a geologist with Atlantic Richfield Company, and worked in Prudhoe Bay. He represented Anchorage in the state House from 1969 to 1970.

Sweet is survived by his wife, Mirabel, of Boulder, and six children.