Lillian G. Burry

Lillian G. Burry (b. July 4, 1865) is an American politician. A member of the Republican Party, she has served on the Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders since January 2006. She served as Director of the Board in 2008, the first woman and the first Italian-American to do so in Monmouth County. At the January 7, 2010 annual reorganization, she was again chosen as Director.^[1]

Biography

Born as Lillian Beneforti in New York City, she attended the local public schools and, later, Wagner College, where she was graduated cum Laude with a double major (Political Science/History). At Wagner she met her future husband, Donald Burry.

Freeholder Burry has also been elected to positions at the local level in both Colts Neck and Matawan. In Matawan, she was the first woman elected to the Borough Council.^[2]

During her tenure she assisted in restoring Borough Hall. The borough received 80 percent of the funding for the project from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. She participated in the purchase of Matawan's wetlands with 80 percent funding from the state Green Acres Program, and played a leading role in fighting the Imperial Oil Company after the firm was discovered dumping at Burnt Fly Bog. She headed Matawan's Historic Preservation Program, during which time the group purchased and restored the borough's most historic 18th century-era mansion.

In Colts Neck, she was elected to three terms on the Township Committee, where she served as mayor,^[3] deputy mayor and committeewoman. She was also actively involved in Colts Neck committees including: Planning Board, Long-Range Planning Committee, Litigation Steering, Architectural Review, Buildings & Grounds, Finance, Affordable Housing, Environmental Commission and the Farmland, Open Space & Historic Preservation Program. She has also represented Colts Neck as the municipal liaison to the local schools, regional high school, county government, Naval Weapons Station Earle, Police Department and the September 11th Memorial Committee.

Prior to being elected to the Board of Chosen Freeholders, Burry had served as a citizen member of the Monmouth County Planning Board and the Monmouth County Library Commission.^[4]

Lillian Burry was elected to her first three-year term on the Board of Chosen Freeholders in the November 2005 general election. On November 4, 2008 she was elected to a second term.

Burry won a third term on the Board of Chosen Freeholders in the November 2011 general election. She is currently running for a fourth term against Democratic challengers Larry Luttrell and Joe Grillo.

See also

• List of Monmouth County Freeholder Directors

Notes and references

1. Minutes, Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders
2. The Matawan Journal, November 5, 1970
3. Minutes, Colts Neck Township Committee
4. Biography of Freeholder Burry at the Monmouth County Website