WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) - Vivian Burke, a Winston-Salem city council member for more than 40 years and matriarch of a family with a tradition of public service, has died at age 85.
Mayor Allen Joines announced Burke’s death on the city’s Facebook page on Wednesday, calling her “a remarkable woman who leaves a legacy of accomplishment that shaped the city that is Winston-Salem today.”
The Winston-Salem Journal reports that in 1977, Alderman Carl H. Russell decided to give up his seat to run for mayor. That opened the door for Burke to make her first run for office. She handily won the Democratic primary and beat her Republican opponent in a landslide. She would go more than 40 years without ever losing a council race.
Burke was married to a state representative. Burke’s son became a Forsyth County judge and her daughter-in-law served on the local school board.
“My mother had become an icon in this community and beyond in the way she distinguished herself through public service for over four decades,” Todd Burke said in a statement sent to the newspaper. “There will be no other like her.”
In 2019, at age 85, Burke told the newspaper she did not file for re-election, but said she would remain on the council until her term ended late this year.
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