Carlinville Mayor and former State Sen. Deanna Demuzio died Tuesday, according to a statement on the city's Facebook page. She was 77.
"We are extremely saddened with word of her passing and we will miss her leadership along with daily conversations," the statement said.
Circumstances of her death were not immediately available.
Demuzio was elected mayor of Carlinville in 2013. She had earlier served in the state Senate, having been appointed in 2004 following the death of her husband, Sen. Vince Demuzio, D-Carlinville.
"Deanna and Vince were our leaders, family and friends for decades," said Pam Monetti, chair of the Macoupin County Democratic Party. "Deanna truly was a public servant. She worked hard to make Macoupin County a better place to live, work and raise our families. She will be dearly missed by all of us in the ... party."
People are also reading…
Monetti said she ran into Demuzio on the square in Carlinville about three weeks ago, and the mayor looked frail. She said someone with the party did a recent video interview of Demuzio, and that will be featured as part of a tribute when the party has an already scheduled virtual unity event Saturday night.
State Sen. Andy Manar, D-Bunker Hill, said Demuzio was someone who inspired and mentored him.
"She was a trailblazer and her name is synonymous with Carlinville and Macoupin County," Manar said on Facebook. "Deanna was a fierce advocate for the things she believed in and represents the best that we all strive to be as public servants. Words cannot fully encapsulate all that she has given to causes greater than herself over the course of her lifetime."
Among Demuzio's colleagues in the Illinois Senate was Barack Obama, who went on to be elected to the U.S. Senate and president.
In 2016, Obama addressed Illinois lawmakers at the statehouse. Demuzio, already Carlinville mayor, attended that event with the president making a point to visit with her while in the Illinois House chamber.
That day Demuzio said during their meeting Obama expressed his condolences about the death of her son Brad who had been director of Secretary of State Police. She also mentioned that she was the Carlinville mayor -- which did not catch the president by surprise.
"He goes, 'I know. You're the head cheese down there. ... I follow you all the time,'" she recalled him saying. "And he squeezed my hand, and he went on," she said at the time.
Manar said he was in college when he first met Deanna Demuzio at the 1995 Macoupin County Fair, where he had been invited to attend by Vince Demuzio.
"Immediately I was struck by her warmth and grace, her smile, her ability to make me feel comfortable," Manar wrote Tuesday. "I think that was perhaps her greatest attribute and that's how I will always remember her. She was such a caring person."
Demuzio left the Senate after being defeated for re-election in 2010 by former GOP Sen. Sam McCann.