Freeholder Director Lillian G. Burry
Lillian G. Beneforti was born in New York City, attended public schools and Wagner College, where she was graduated Cum Laude with a degree in Political Science and History. While at Wagner, Lillian met her husband, Don Burry. The Burrys have one daughter, Lenore, and two grandchildren. In the 1970s Lillian Burry was the first woman elected to the Matawan Borough Council. Freeholder Burry is director of the Board of Chosen Freeholders and oversees Public Services and Regulation, which includes law enforcement, the Monmouth County Library and the Monmouth County Park System.
Among Lillian’s achievements:
- While a Matawan resident, she helped start a chapter of the League of Women Voters, eventually serving as its president.
- She was the first woman ever elected to Matawan’s governing body, and assisted in restoring Town Hall. The township received 80 percent of the funding for the project from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
- Lillian headed Matawan’s Historic Preservation Program, during which time the group purchased and restored the borough’s most historic 1700s-era mansion.
- She participated in the purchase of Matawan’s wetlands with 80 percent funding from the state Green Acres Program, and played a leading role in fighting the Imperial Oil Company after it was discovered that the firm was dumping at Burnt Fly Bog. In 1997, Lillian was elected to the first of three terms on the Colts Neck Township Committee, where she served as mayor, deputy mayor and committeewoman. In Colts Neck, Lillian was involved in the following: Planning Board, Long-Range Planning Committee, Litigation Steering Committee, Architectural Review Committee, local schools liaison, regional school liaison, county government Liaison, affordable housing, Colts Neck polo, Buildings & Grounds Committee, Earle Naval Weapons Station liaison, Police Department liaison, Finance Committee, September 11th Memorial Committee, the Environmental Commission, and she spearheaded the Farmland and Open Space Preservation Program. Lillian has been in business for more than 30 years, as owner and broker of record at Colts Neck Realty, Route 537, Colts Neck, and has membership in the following organizations:
- National and N.J. Association of Realtors
- Past President of the Women’s Council of Realtors
- Member, National Honor History Fraternity
- Past Executive Board Member, Monmouth County Association of Realtors Additional
- Served on the Monmouth County Planning Board
- Served on the Monmouth County Library Commission
- Elected as a delegate to the 2004 Republican National Convention in New York City, where she was interviewed by local and national media and appeared on televised segments
- Invited to the Inauguration of President George W. Bush in Washington, D.C. in January 2005
- 2004 Wagner College Alumni Fellows Award in Political Science
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