SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Former US Rep. John Burton, a salty, shy, liberal San Francisco Democrat who rose to work for the working class and nurtured countless political careers, including former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, passed away Sunday. He was 92 years old.
Burton died in San Francisco of natural causes, his family said in a statement.
A tribute, poured into by top California politicians, reminded Burton as a worker, adoptive child, and an unwitting advocate of the intensely tiresome environment. Over the years, Burton taught PelosiFormer US Senator Barbara Boxercurrent US Senator Alex Padilla And countless other California officials.
“The champion for the poor, bullied, disabled and forgotten Californians wasn’t as much of a champion as John Burton. He was a towering figure. Decades of service were the legendary forces that have better shaped our nation and politics,” Gov says. Gavin Newsomformer mayor of San Francisco, in a statement.
Another former San Francisco mayor Willie Brown said on Sunday that death allowed him to separate him from his dear friend who had been by his side for decades – as a college student they first met, as a fellow beginner in the state legislature, and as an influential member of the Democratic political machine in California.
“John Burton may have been the best I’ve ever served as a member of Congress,” Brown said.
Burton believes the government is the best when it served those who needed it most, and he never retreated from the fight, said Rusty Hicks, the chairman of the state Democratic Party.
“The greatest way to honor John Burton is to continue fighting with the same grit, tenacity and heart that defined his life,” Hicks said in a statement.
“He cared a lot,” said Kimiko Burton, Burton’s daughter. “He’s always instilled in me that we fight for losers. There are literally millions of people who have helped him in life over the years who don’t know who he is.”
John Lowell Burton was born on December 15, 1932 in Cincinnati, Ohio, and grew up in San Francisco with plans to teach history and coach high school basketball.
However, he came to politics after his brother Philip Burton, and was elected to the state legislature in 1964. Ten years later, he moved to the US House of Representatives, where he protected the wilderness of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and promoted laws denounced South Africa’s apartheid.
Burton resigned in 1982 to deal with cocaine addiction, but he didn’t stay long.
In 1988 he returned to the California Congress, winning a state Senate seat in 1996, and rose to become president of the Chamber of Commerce. He retired from politics, which was elected in 2004. He will only lead the California Democrats from 2009 to 2017.
After resigning, he founded a nonprofit organization dedicated to raising young people. a Memories have been posted Sunday’s advocate by John Burton cited her being angry at the lack of available resources for aging foster parents from the foster care system.
“What have you been freed from? And what?” he asked. “Not able to have a roof over your head? Freeze from higher education opportunities? Unemployment? To life on welfare roles?
The organization has successfully advocated over 50 legislative reforms, including financial aid to universities and expanding childcare for foster parents aged 18 to 21.
Barbara Leeformer US lawmaker and current Mayor of Oakland, said Burton was determined to attend her public inauguration in June, despite his health challenges, and he did.
“His life’s work reminds us that authentic leadership has the courage to tell the truth to power and never forget where you came from,” she said.
In addition to his daughter Kimiko, Burton is survived by two grandchildren, Juan and Mikara.
Plans for celebrations for life are pending. The family asks John Burton’s youth advocates to donate to his memory in place of flowers.
