ANNISTON, Ala. (AP) &045; The Rev. Alfonzo Scales, state president for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, has died. He was 74.

Scales died Sunday at UAB Hospital from injuries he received in a February car accident, the Anniston Star reported Wednesday.

Friends and family said Scales was fond of fishing, loved Christian books and had made a commitment to pushing for equality and helping mentor others.

Scales served as the pastor at Friendship Baptist Church in Gadsden.

“He was the father that you loved and would do anything in the world for you,” said Regina Scales-Smith, an Anniston resident who is also the youngest of nine children.