Throughout her career, Carole Keeton – also known as Carole Keeton Strayhorn – served as mayor of Austin, Texas railroad commissioner and as Texas comptroller.
AUSTIN, Texas — Flags are at half-staff across Texas to honor Carole Keeton, a former Austin mayor and lifelong politician who died earlier this week.
“Texas has lost a longtime leader and dedicated public servant with the death of Carole Keeton. As a mark of respect for her public service as school board president, state insurance commissioner, mayor, railroad commissioner and comptroller, it is fitting that flags be lowered to half-staff in her honor,” Gov. Greg Abbott said in an online announcement.
Abbott ordered that Texas and American flags be lowered to half-staff statewide through sunset on Friday, March 28. Flags at the Texas State Capitol building and at the Texas State Cemetery will also be flown at half-staff on the date Keeton is buried, once it is set by her family.
The governor also encouraged individuals, businesses and other entities to fly their flags at half-staff through sunset on Friday as a mark of respect.
“On behalf of Texas, the First Lady and I offer our thoughts and prayers on behalf of the Keeton family in their time of mourning,” Abbott wrote. “I urge all Texans to appropriately remember Carole’s service to Texas.”
Who was Carole Keeton?
Carole Keeton, also known as Carole Keeton Strayhorn, was a trailblazer who served in several political offices throughout her decades-long career.
Keeton served on Austin ISD’s Board of Trustees before serving as Austin’s mayor from 1977 to 1983, making history as the first woman to hold that office. She served a single term on the Texas Railroad Commission in 1994. Then, in 1998, she became the first woman elected as state comptroller, a position she held until early 2007.
In 2006, toward the end of her time as comptroller, Keeton ran for governor as an independent against former Gov. Rick Perry. In her campaign, she referred to herself as “one tough grandma.”
Keeton’s family said she died peacefully at home in Austin, surrounded by loved ones, on Wednesday. She was 85.
In a statement following her death, current Austin Mayor Kirk Watson called Strayhorn “a powerful personality that filled a room” and someone who “pushed people to think about the future but also made you laugh at the drop of a hat.”