ORLANDO, Fla. - Civil rights activist and longtime Rep. John Lewis lost his battle with pancreatic cancer Friday night.

He was 80 years old.

Lewis is remembered for being part of history making moments including leading the Civil Rights March in Alabama with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1965.

On a local level, Orlando remembers the Congressman for his fight for gun law reform following the Pulse Nightclub mass shooting.

“We were inspired by Congressman John Lewis’s sit-in, that we actually organized a sit-in here in Orlando at Senator Marco Rubio’s office,” said State Rep. Anna Eskamani.

Brandon Wolf was there the night a gunman opened fire at Pulse, killing 49 people.

Lewis later came to Pulse, and listened as Wolf told him about his best friends who never came home.

"He pulled me in close and he said that we never stop fighting. We never stop fighting in their honor. We never stop fighting for a world that we can be proud of,” remembered Wolf.

From tragedy, Wolf turned to advocacy, and eventually landed on the Congressional floor, testifying in front of Lewis’s committee.

“Everyone finds their own journey to healing. For me, it’s meant advocacy. It’s meant activism. It’s meant being involved and fighting for a world that I think the 49 victims of Pulse would be proud of,” said Wolf.

Lewis recently spoke out about the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement, following George Floyd’s death.

In his statement, he urged people to continue with peaceful protest, to be “constructive, not destructive.”