Margaret Hance

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Margaret Taylor Hance (July 2, 1923-April 29, 1990) was the first female mayor of Phoenix, Arizona, taking office in 1976. She proved to be a popular mayor, winning four consecutive two-year terms, from 1976 to 1983.

[edit] Biography

Hance was born in Spirit Lake, Iowa, to Glen C. and Helen Kenny Taylor, the youngest of three children. She grew up active in athletics. She earned a Bachelor's degree from Scripps College in Claremont, California, in 1945. Hance, then Taylor, married Richard M. Hance in 1945, and the couple had three children.

In 1967, Hance began producing documentaries for a local PBS affiliate. She decided to get involved in local politics after her husband died in 1970. Among her first significant public initiatives was creating the Phoenix Mountain Preserve, for which she was unofficially known as the "Mother of Mountain Preserve."

After retiring as mayor, Hance worked with the Reagan and Bush administrations.

Margaret Taylor Hance died of cancer on April 29, 1990.