Simsboro mayor Foster dies at 90

Simsboro Mayor Sybil Smalling Foster died last week at the age of 90.

Foster, who served as mayor of the village for 10 years, died Jan. 2 due to complications that arose from pneumonia, town officials said.

She’s remembered as a passionate, progressive mayor who steered the village to solid financial ground and championed infrastructure improvements that are ongoing.

“She had a serious passion for the village of Simsboro,” Alderman Jerry White said. “She got a lot of stuff done that’s been needing to be done for years and years now. She loved the citizens of the town, and they loved her back.”

Alderman Doug Durrett is the mayor pro tempore, who by law performs the duties of mayor until a new mayor is appointed or elected.

With two years remaining in Foster’s unexpired term, an election is typically held to fill the rest of the term. The Simsboro Board of Aldermen will hold its regular monthly meeting Monday.

Foster was elected to her first term as mayor in 2014. She had a successful career as a real estate agent for more than 15 years and enjoyed cooking, gardening and sewing.

She was instrumental in the village’s being awarded $2 million from the Louisiana Department of Health’s Drinking Water Revolving Loan Fund in 2023 to put toward replacing its 50-year-old water line system with new PVC lines, as well as other funding for needed infrastructure projects.

For a village with a small tax base, Foster had the frugal and efficient mentality to keep operations on the rails.

“When she took office, financially the village was not doing as well as it is right now,” White said. “She turned things around. She squeezed every penny and left the town in a very good way.”

Now the water system rehab is reportedly nearing completion, a project White said Foster worked toward for many years.

“She got us so close to the finish line,” he said. “ We were hoping and praying she could see it. We’re going to make sure it gets taken care of on her behalf.”