Sala Burton

Sala Burton (née Galante; April 1, 1925 – February 1, 1987) was a Polish-born American politician who served as a United States Representative from California from 1983 until her death from colon cancer in Washington, D. C., in 1987.

She was born Sala Galante into a Jewish family in Białystok, Poland, on April 1, 1925.

[3] She was reelected to the two succeeding Congress terms and mentored her successor and future Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who replaced Burton after her death in 1987.

[2] Galante met her second husband Phillip Burton at a California Young Democrats convention in 1950.

Burton died from colon cancer on February 1, 1987, in Washington, D.C., and was buried in the San Francisco National Cemetery in the Presidio.

Burton served as the representative from California's 5th congressional district , which at that time was a portion of the city of San Francisco. She served from the time of her first election in 1983 until her death in 1987.