Miriam Kaywood, 82; First Anaheim City Councilwoman
Miriam Kaywood, 82, Anaheim’s first female City Council member, died Monday in an Anaheim rehabilitation center after a battle with Alzheimer’s disease.
Elected to the council in 1974, she served for 16 years, one of the longest tenures of any elected official in the city.
Kaywood had a long history of civic involvement, including stints on the Anaheim Planning Commission, a citizens committee for capital improvements and the Santa Ana River study committee.
“She never failed to let people know she was the first woman,” said Irv Pickler, a former Anaheim councilman who served with Kaywood for eight years. “She felt real honored.”
Pickler described Kaywood as a feisty woman who had her share of friends and enemies within the city.
“She shot from the hip,” he said. “She had differences with a lot of people, but she never backed down.”
Born and educated in New York City, Kaywood moved to California in 1947 with her husband, Richard.
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