Former Langley planner Larry Cort, who died Oct. 28 at his Coupeville home after a yearlong diagnosis of brain cancer, was issued a posthumous Mayor’s Excellence Award by Mayor Fred McCarthy during Monday night’s city council meeting.

The ritual would have been familiar to Cort, who spent most of his career as a planner on Whidbey Island.

Cort was Coupeville’s town planner for years, then served as the planning director of Langley for about four years from 2006-2010, taking a brief jaunt as a senior planner in Maple Valley in 2007 before returning to Langley in 2008.

He then went to Oak Harbor as a project specialist before becoming the city administrator.

“He was always a gentleman the times I worked with him,” McCarthy said. “Even in contentious issues, he took the high road.”

The pin and certificate, said McCarthy, will be presented to his wife, Lisbeth Cort, at a memorial service in December.