Former San Francisco supervisor Willie B. Kennedy passed away this morning, her longtime colleague said.
Kennedy, 90, died after suffering a heart attack earlier this week, said Toye Moses, the executive director of San Francisco’s Southeast Community Facility Commission.
After serving as supervisor from 1981 to 1996, Kennedy had since held the post of president of the commission, which provides economic and other support to the Bayview, Hunters Point and nearby neighborhoods, Moses said.
Openly weeping, Moses said Kennedy was “very active, very full of energy.”
He said he could not believe she was gone, when he had just seen her a few days ago.
He said they had worked closely together for many decades.
“She’s going to be hard to replace,” Moses said.
Nearly up until her death Moses said she was still driving and working. He said the two had already been planning her birthday in November.
“She was just incredible,” he said. “She was well respected.”
He said she would often talk about her grandchildren and children and that recently she had moved to the East Bay to be closer to her family.
San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee issued a statement today about the former supervisor who was appointed by then-mayor Dianne Feinstein.
Lee said in a statement that Kennedy was “committed to improving the community and creating opportunities for our city’s children, youth and families.”
Lee credited Kennedy for leading the Hunters Point Ship Yard-Candlestick Point development, and said she was even able to attend ground breaking on the project just this week.
Supervisor Malia Cohen said in a statement that Kennedy was an advocate for senior and youth services in the southeastern portion of the city.
She said that Kennedy was a personal friend and a “significant figure in the political history of San Francisco.”
Sasha Lekach, Bay City News
