Carol Witte De Long

Sunday, Dec. 10 —- Carol De Long, the first woman to serve as Mayor of Falls Church has died at age 93. She was born on June 25, 1930 and died yesterday, Dec. 9, 2023.

De Long, a civic activist for more than 60 years and the first woman to serve as Mayor of the City of Falls Church, died Saturday evening while in hospice care at the Vierra Falls Church nursing home. Her son-in-law, Phil Duncan, is currently a member of the F.C. City Council.

De Long was born in Newark, N.J., the daughter of Carl Peter Witte and Edith Kraeuter Witte.

She graduated from the New Jersey College for Women (Douglass College at Rutgers University) with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1952. She moved to Pullman, Wash., to obtain a Master’s degree in organic chemistry at Washington State University.

There she met Chester De Long, who was pursuing his Ph.D. at the time. She and Chet married in August 1956 and moved in 1960 to the City of Falls Church from Arlington.

While managing a busy household with three daughters, Carol devoted a share of her formidable organizational skills and attention to detail to the betterment of the then-young City of Falls Church.

She served as Madison School PTA president in 1969-70, was appointed to the City’s Planning Commission in 1971, and in 1974 won election to the City Council. She won three more Council terms, serving until 1990.

Her Council colleagues chose her to be Mayor for four two-year terms, from 1980 to 1988. She was City’s first woman Mayor.

While on the City Council, she served on the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission (1976-90), and on the Metropolitan Washington Council of Government’s Transportation Planning Board, which she chaired. She was instrumental in brokering compromise among the various jurisdictions in COG over transportation funding formulas.

During her tenure on City Council, De Long oversaw construction of the City Hall East Wing addition and the Kaiser Permanente facility; the creation of Madison Park; and the building of the W&OD trail bridge across West Broad St., along with the streetscape improvements on West Broad between West St. and Haycock Rd.

She promoted the establishment of the Farmers Market, which has become a weekly institution in Falls Church.

De Long advocated for the Falls Church Housing Corporation to purchase 81 apartments at Winter Hill to preserve them as housing for lower-income elderly and people with disabilities.

She fought for the establishment of Aurora House, a residential counseling center on S. Maple Ave. for adolescent girls.

In 1999 she received the Mattie Gundry Award for “furthering the standing of women in the community” from the Falls Church Commission on Women.

In 2021 she was one of three women honored as a Grand Marshal at the inaugural Falls Church Women’s History Walk. Into this year she was a participating member of the Women’s History Group, which calls attention to the accomplishments of women in Falls Church.

She was a member and past president of Citizens for a Better City, and in 2002 received CBC’s highest recognition, the Jane and Wayne Dexter Award, for exemplary service to CBC and the community.

She also was a longtime member of the League of Women Voters of Falls Church, and of the Village Preservation and Improvement Society,

Among the many charities she supported, the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation was her favorite.

Carol is survived by her husband of 67 years, Chet; three daughters: Leslie (Philip Duncan), Alison (John Sedivy), and Linda; and four grandchildren: Meredyth, Tyler, Emma (Flo Vass), and Nico.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, Jan. 13, at 3 p.m. at the Falls Church Presbyterian Church, 225 East Broad Street, Falls Church, Virginia, 22046.