The president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference died early Thursday morning. The Rev. Howard Creecy-Jr. had only held the post of the civil rights group since the start of the year.

The SCLC says Creecy, Jr. died of an apparent heart attack at his Atlanta home. He was 57.

The pastor was elected president of the organization co-founded by Martin Luther King, Jr. in January. It came after King’s daughter Bernice declined the position.

The SCLC had been plagued by organizational infighting in recent years. King’s nephew Issac Newton Farris, who now becomes interim president, says the group will follow groundwork laid by Creecy, Jr.

“He really had some concrete, very vibrant and exciting plans for us going forward, which we intend to follow the road map which he laid out for us.”

Farris says the loss of Creecy, Jr. hits him especially hard, given the close ties both families have had through the years.

Tags: SCLC, Jr., Howard Creecy, civil rights organization, Issac Newton Farris