By Heather Michon
Correspondent
Mozell Lee Booker, a lifelong educator and 16-year member of the Fluvanna County Board of Supervisors whose leadership helped shape the county’s schools, infrastructure, and civic life, died Sept. 30 at her home in Fork Union. She was 83.
Booker’s political career was defined by a determination to bridge divides and build for the future. Over four terms on the Board of Supervisors, including two sessions as chair in 2014 and 2023, she championed projects that reshaped the county, from the construction of a new high school to the long-awaited James River water pipeline.
She was never one to shy away from controversy, but she approached even the most divisive issues with patience and purpose.
During the lengthy debate over what to do with Confederate symbols in Fluvanna, she pushed to rename “Confederate Park” as “Civil War Park” and to add, rather than remove, monuments.
“We’re not saying pull the Confederate statues down,” she said in 2017. “We’re saying, add to it. Let’s tell the whole story.”
Her stance reflected her broader philosophy of leadership: inclusion over erasure, conversation over confrontation. Even when her inbox was filled with hostile messages, she remained steady, urging her colleagues and constituents toward common ground.
In 2019, she helped dedicate a new monument in the renamed park honoring the Emancipation Proclamation and the thousands of enslaved Fluvannans. “It is not a taboo subject anymore,” she said.
Born in Fluvanna County in 1941, Booker graduated from Abrams School and went on to earn her bachelor’s degree from Virginia Union University and a master’s degree from Michigan State, and later pursued further study in administration at the University of Virginia.
Before entering politics, she spent decades in education, first teaching in Washington, D.C., then abroad while her husband, Jerome J. Booker, served in the Air Force. After returning to Fluvanna, she led Cunningham and Fork Union Elementary schools before spending 13 years in the Charlottesville school system. Even after retiring in 2001, she continued working part-time in Fluvanna classrooms.
The Bookers were pioneers in Fluvanna government. Jerome was the first African-American member of the Board of Supervisors. After he died in 2004, she became the first African-American woman elected to office in the county and the first female chair.
Together, they promoted what she once called “smart growth,” supporting the arts, affordable housing, and services for working families. They were champions of the Fork Union Sanitary District water system, bringing municipal water and wastewater to an underserved part of the county. She went on to be a strong supporter of the James River Water Project.
Even in retirement, Booker never fully stepped back. She served on several regional boards, including JABA and the Fluvanna-Louisa Housing Foundation. She lectured on African American history and the county’s Rosenwald Schools, mentored new leaders, and advocated for collaboration over partisanship.
She is survived by her children, Kimberley Hundley and Jerome Booker Jr., and four grandchildren, as well as her brother, Steven A. Booker.
According to DD Watson Funeral Home in Fork Union, the family plans to hold a public celebration of her life and legacy in the spring of 2026.
“In honoring Mozell’s memory,” her obituary concludes, “we remember a woman of strength, grace, and unwavering dedication—a true leader, mentor, and friend.”
