Former councilwoman Hazel Erby has died after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. Described by many, including Mayor Tishaura Jones, as a trailblazer, Erby was the first Black woman to serve on the St. Louis County Council and became the chairman in 2009. She served as a mentor to younger generations. She started her service on the council in 2004. After former County Executive Steve Stenger resigned amid a corruption scandal, Erby had hoped to replace him on an interim basis, but then-council-chairman Sam Page slipped into the position during a rapid-fire change in leadership. She and Page remained rivals, even after he hired her as the county s director of the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in 2019. Page later fired her in 2020, a move she was still contesting through the courts at the time of her death.