The late Ann Baran (r) standing with her successor as county manager Michael Laoppola. Photo courtesy Vincent Lehotsky
Former Union County manager Ann Baran died on Tuesday after 15 years fighting back breast cancer, the Star-Ledger reports.
Baran, a Democrat, was the first woman to head a county government in state history. She served eight years in the appointed position, beginning in 1990.
"She was qualified enough that the Democrats put her on, and then the Republicans kept her on," former Republican freeholder Frank Lehr said in the Ledger.
Baran was 58.
