Mia Love, the child of Haitian immigrants who went on to become a City Council member, mayor and the first Black Republican woman elected to Congress, died Sunday after a three-year-long battle with brain cancer.
She was 49.
She died “in her home surrounded by family,” her family wrote Sunday on Love’s account on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter.
Gov. Spencer Cox, posting on X, said he was “heartbroken” by news of Love’s death. “From the time we were mayors together I could always count on Mia as a true friend,” Cox wrote. “Her legacy of service inspired all who knew her. We pray for her family and mourn with them.”
Love’s parents emigrated from Haiti, first, her father, Maxime Bourdeau, in 1974, followed by his wife, Marie, a few months later. Maxime got a maintenance job in New Jersey and the family settled in Brooklyn. Marie worked as a housekeeper and later as a nursing assistant.
On Dec. 6, 1975, they had a third child, Ludmya, and called her Mia for short.
The family relocated to Connecticut, and, in high school, Mia became involved in color guard and drama, landing roles in her first musicals. She later received a half-tuition scholarship at the