'She was a trailblazer': Aurora mourns the death of longtime alderman Hart-Burns

Aurora Alderman Scheketa Hart-Burns dedicated herself to improving the lives of residents in the city she loved.

She especially was committed to helping Aurora's children, including now-Mayor Richard Irvin, who recalled meeting her when he was playing at the Grand Boulevard Youth Center. He said she smiled not just with her face, but with her heart.

"She gave me that same smile decades later when I joined the city council," said Irvin, who became the first Black mayor of Aurora in 2017.

Hart-Burns, 68, died Monday.

"She was a trailblazer here in the city of Aurora," Irvin said Tuesday during a committee of the whole meeting, where a large photo of Hart-Burns and seven red roses were displayed at her seat.

Hart-Burns, who served for 32 years, was the city's first Black alderman, he said.

"She opened doors so I can sit here as mayor, the first Black mayor the city has seen in over 180 years," Irvin said.

Former alderman-at-large Sherman Jenkins noted Hart-Burns followed in the footsteps of longtime community leader Marie Wilkinson.

"She (Hart-Burns) picked up the baton from Marie Wilkinson and ran her portion of the race for human dignity and respect with a passion and determination unlike any other," Jenkins said Wednesday.

Hart-Burns was elected in 1991, originally in the 6th Ward. When the 7th Ward was added, she became its alderman. The ward is on the east side of Aurora, south of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad line.

"She would call me. She would have purpose in her voice. 'Bugg, what are we going to do about this?'" Alderman Edward Bugg recalled Tuesday. He noted she didn't say what are "you" going to do.

Hart-Burns believed in collaborating, he said.

According to Bugg, Hart-Burns would say, "We always have to uplift each other and always remember that if one fails, each one of us fails."

Aldermen recalled her hugs; her enthusiasm; her laugh; and her religious faith. Hart-Burns, a missionary and evangelist at Greater Mount Olive Church of God in Christ, usually gave the invocation at city council meetings. She would ask God to help aldermen make wise choices.

Hart-Burns established a ward committee and several apartment-complex tenant councils, established community gardens in her ward, started the annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. luncheon, started the effort to install commemorative street signs for prominent Black residents, and founded the Back-to-School Bash at Martin Luther King Park, which serves more than 5,000 students.

She was chairman of the Circle of Wise Women for the Kane County Health Department, including working on an effort to prevent premature births. Several of her children had been born prematurely.

She is survived by her husband, William F. Burns; children Kehinde, Hakim and Amina Hart; and stepchildren Michael, Vernon and Arvin Burns. Her sons Ahmad and Malik Hart preceded her in death.

Funeral arrangements had not been announced as of noon Wednesday.