Lila Cockrell
| Lila Cockrell | |
|---|---|
| Mayor of San Antonio | |
|
In office June 1, 1989 – June 1, 1991 |
|
| Preceded by | Henry Cisneros |
| Succeeded by | Nelson W. Wolff |
|
In office May 1, 1975 – May 1, 1981 |
|
| Preceded by | Charles L. Becker |
| Succeeded by | Henry Cisneros |
| San Antonio City Councilwoman | |
|
In office 1973–1975 |
|
|
In office 1963–1970 |
|
| Personal details | |
| Born |
January 19, 1922 Fort Worth, Texas |
| Spouse(s) | Sidney Earl Cockrell Jr. (-1988 his death) |
| Children | Two daughters |
| Alma mater | Southern Methodist University |
| Military service | |
| Service/branch | WAVES |
| Rank | Ensign |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
Lila May Banks Cockrell (born January 19, 1922) is a former mayor of San Antonio, Texas. During World War II, she served in the WAVES branch of the United States Navy. She served as President of the Dallas and San Antonio chapters of the League of Women Voters during the 1950s.
After serving for a decade on the city council, including her 1969 service as the city's first woman mayor Pro Tem, Cockrell was elected in 1975 to the first of four two-year terms as Mayor of San Antonio. At the time of her inauguration, San Antonio's population gave her the status of the mayor over the largest American city being governed by a woman. She is often listed as the first woman in the United States to be elected mayor of a major metropolis. However, Bertha Knight Landes was mayor of Seattle 1926–1928. Cockrell's first three terms ran consecutively 1975–1981. At the end of her third term, she chose not to run because of the illness of her husband Sidney Earl Cockrell Jr. She was succeeded by Henry Cisneros. Widowed in 1988, she was elected to her fourth term as mayor in 1989 when Cisneros left office.
After retiring from political office, Cockrell served on many municipal commissions and civic boards. In 2013, she retired as president of the San Antonio Parks Foundation, a position she had held since 1998.
Cockrell is a member of the Hot Wells Conservancy Board, which is working with the Bexar County Commissioners Court to restore the former Hot Wells hotel, spa, and bathhouses, which flourished in the first two decades of the 20th century. The spa is located along the San Antonio River in the southside of San Antonio.
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