INDEPENDENCE, Mo. — Flags across Independence will be placed at half-staff through April 20 to honor Karen DeLuccie, the late city councilwoman who died Tuesday after a short battle with cancer.
Mayor Eileen Weir made the announcement Wednesday afternoon in a statement from the city that also announced funeral arrangements..
“Councilmember Deluccie was a dedicated public servant who provided decades of service to our community,” Weir said. “We ask the public to join us in marking her commitment to this community as we work to love and improve this community in her memory.”
DeLuccie’s visitation will take place April 19 at St. Mark’s Catholic Church, 3736 Lee’s Summit Road in Independence. The rosary will be prayed from 5 to 5:30 p.m. followed by a visitation until 8 p.m.
A funeral mass at St. Mark's will take place at 11:30 a.m. on April 20.
The events are open to the public.
DeLuccie, 64, who was elected April 5 to a third term on the Independence City Council, announced in February that she had been diagnosed with cancer.
She was an important voice in city politics for the last quarter century and called Independence "the city I love" in a statement issued on her behalf by the family and city.
"I am so sorry that I am unable to continue to work with all of you in making Independence an even better place to live and raise a family," DeLuccie's statement read, in part.
Her husband, Joe O’Hara, said in a statement announcing her death that treatment proved unsuccessful.
DeLuccie served for nearly two decades on the Independence Planning Commission before being elected to the city council for the first time in April 2014. She won reelection in 2018 and again last week.
A family law attorney by trade, DeLuccie helped found the Independence Youth Court and also served as a member of the city’s tax review board.
DeLuccie received the most votes (5,309) among four city-council candidates vying for two spots in last week’s election.
She and Jared Fears, who finished second in the race, were set to take the oath of office along with newly elected Mayor Rory Rowland at the Independence City Council meeting on April 18.
Per the city’s charter, Independence will have to schedule a new election, most likely beginning with a primary in August, to fill DeLuccie’s seat.
