Carol DeLong, First Female Falls Church Mayor, Dies

FALLS CHURCH, VA — Carol DeLong, the City of Falls Church's first female mayor, died Saturday at age 93. DeLong, the mother-in-law of current Councilmember Phil Duncan, died while in hospice care at the Vierra Falls Church nursing home.

Born on June 25, 1930, in Newark, New Jersey, she was the daughter of Carl Peter Witte and Edith Kraeuter Witte. After graduating from the New Jersey College for Women (Douglass College at Rutgers University) with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1952, she moved to Pullman, Washington and earned a Master’s degree in organic chemistry at Washington State University.

During that time, she met Chester DeLong, who was working toward a Ph.D. They got married in August 1956 and moved from Arlington to the City of Falls Church in 1960. The couple had three daughters, and Carol DeLong balanced her family life with contributions to early Falls Church, which became an independent city in 1948.

DeLong became Madison School PTA president in 1969 to 1970, was appointed to the city’s Planning Commission in 1971,won election to the City Council in 1974. She won three more City Council terms and served until 1990.

City Council chose DeLong to be mayor for four two year terms between 1980 and 1988. She was the first woman to be chosen for the position in the city. During her time on City Council, she served on the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission from 1976 to 1990 and chaired the Metropolitan Washington Council of Government’s Transportation Planning Board, helping to establish a transportation funding formula compromise among localities. Her time on City Council was also marked by the construction of the City Hall East Wing addition and the Kaiser Permanente facility, the addition of Madison Park, the building of the Washington & Old Dominion trail bridge over West Broad Street, promoting the Falls Church Farmers Market, and streetscape improvements on West Broad between West Street and Haycock Road. DeLong is credited with fighting for the creation of Aurora House, a residential counseling center for girls.

DeLong received the Mattie Gundry Award from the Falls Church Commission on Women in 1999 and was a grand marshal in 2021 at the first Falls Church Women’s History Walk. She was a member of the Women’s History Group, which promotes women's accomplishments in Falls Church, as well as the League of Women Voters of Falls Church and the Village Preservation and Improvement Society. She was a member and past president of Citizens for a Better City and received its highest recognition, the Jane and Wayne Dexter Award. She was also a supporter of many charities, including the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation.

DeLong 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. Arrangements are pending.