WATERLOO - Blindness didn't stop her.

And being black wouldn't stand in her way, either.

Mary Berdell, the first black Waterloo City Council member, died Sunday in Los Angeles after being hospitalized for ankle pain following a fall. She was 79.

An ambitious, long-standing advocate for the black community, Berdell tied with James Van Nice for the 4th Ward council seat in November 1973.

State code required the winner be drawn by lot by the county Board of Supervisors, and her name was pulled from a wastepaper basket. She would serve one term, from 1974 to 1976.

Berdell's co-workers quickly learned not to underestimate her sharpness.

Harold Getty, elected as councilman at large for the east side in 1973, never failed to mask his presence.

"Way back when, I used to smoke cigarettes quite heavy. When I would walk in the room and I would cough," said Getty, clearing his throat a few times to re-enact, "she'd always say, 'Hi, Harold.' "

Indeed, few could pull a fast one on Berdell.

"Every now and then I would try to give her some trouble by getting a hold of her stylus and poking an extra hole in her paper," Getty said. "Of course, she knew Harold was there."

Often Berdell would be the lone dissident or supporter on issues that affected her ward.

In a 1973 Courier story Berdell was quoted as saying: "The responsibility of government to the governed cannot be defined in action for one segment of the community and in promises for another segment. Neither can government decide for the governed when the latter shall be satisfied with what it gets."

Berdell's work on the council paved the way for future 4th Ward improvements.

"She indicated, and I implemented," said Willie Mae Wright, the second black person ever to serve on the council, from 1982 to 1992. "Getting streets paved, getting the garbage picked up as well as it was being picked up on the west side. That river's there, and you can't change it, but it has gotten better."

Berdell spearheaded the revitalization of the Sullivan Park area. It had fallen to graffiti and violence, but Berdell saw a better future for the park. She organized cleanup efforts and celebrations to make the park a more positive place.

"She didn't believe in doing things for people, but she believed in helping people learn how to handle things themselves," Betty Jean Furgerson said.

Youth also captured Berdell's heart.

Growing up, David Meeks, director of the Waterloo Commission on Human Rights, remembers when Berdell was among a group that challenged a teacher's curriculum. He credits Berdell with changing attitudes and stereotypes.

Meeks' older sister, Annie Gates, who taught in the Waterloo school system for 17 years, still has a copy of the controversial text: "Little Brown Koko and the Preacher's Watermelon."

Often at community meetings, the agenda would ask attendees to think in "Mary's shoes," said Gates, who used to give Berdell rides to events. People would close their eyes and try to maneuver a disputable situation more calmly.

"Mary didn't lose her temper, and if she did, it wasn't in a way that would provoke more hostility," Gates said.

Without visual distractions, Berdell used her other senses to get around or even to pick up on people's feelings, Furgerson said.

"We'd eat out together a lot," Furgerson said. "The waitresses would do things like ask me to give her order of what she wanted. I said, 'She can hear you, she can talk, she can make her own order.' "

Berdell wore many hats, serving as executive director of the Martin Luther King Jr. Center, adjunct professor at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, director of the Bee Hive Youth Center, vice chairman of the Waterloo Human Rights Commission and social worker at East High School and McKinstry Junior High School. She was named to both the governor's Crime Commission and Youth Opportunity Program.

Berdell attended the Iowa Braille and Sight Saving School in Vinton, received a bachelor's degree from Fisk University in Nashville, Tenn., and earned two master's degrees, including one in social work from UCLA.

"Mary done well," Getty said.

Berdell returned to Waterloo in 1968, after working as a social worker in Des Moines and California. According to a 1983 Courier story, a farewell reception sent her off again to California, where she was a part-time teacher and active with her church.

In retirement, she was writing a book on her family's history, said her niece, Linda Cole of Waterloo.

Survivors include two sisters, Phyllis B. Henderson and Sanomia A. Gordon, both of Waterloo. She was preceded in death by a brother, Joseph Berdell, and a sister, Annie G. Ross.

Visitation is set for 9 a.m. next Friday at Faith Temple Baptist Church in Waterloo. Funeral services will follow at 11 a.m., with burial at Elmwood Cemetery. Kearns Huisman-Schumacher Chapel is handling arrangements.

Contact Tina Hinz at (319) 291-1484 or tina.hinz@wcfcourier.com.