MAY, Elaine

West Valley View, Avondale, AZ November 01, 2011 Buckeye District 3 Councilwoman Elaine May, 65, died today from cancer. May was born in California, and moved to Buckeye when she was 4. She was a graduate of Buckeye Union High School and attended Durham Business College, Rio Salado Community College and Estrella Mountain Community College. May held accounting positions with a dozen businesses in the southwest Valley over the years. May was re-elected in 2008 to a third term on the Buckeye Town Council, and had served as vice mayor from 2008 to 2010. She was first elected to the council in March 1986 and served until 1988. She was elected to a second term in March 2004 and served as the council's representative on the Main Street Board, Community Services Board and the Public Safety Police Retirement Board. She previously served on the Cemetery Committee, the Parks & Recreation Board, the Library Board and the Social Service Advisory Board. She was vice-chairman of the Town's Airport Committee and Cemetery Committee for two years each, was a member of the Buckeye Main Street Program and has been a member of the Arizona Women in Government and Southwest Community Network. May initiated the Buckeye Governor's Alliance Against Drugs in 1988 and helped combine it with the Buckeye Chemical Abuse Prevention group at Buckeye Union High School. She has also served on the General Plan Update Committee, the committee that negotiated a new solid waste disposal contract and on the Boards and Commissions Selection Committee. She was a member of the Phoenix Zoo and a charter member of the Buckeye Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. She is survived by her husband of 45 years, Joe, and a son, Byron. Funeral services are pending.