When she first ran for political office, Mary Santoro was a reluctant candidate.

		Snapshot MARY SANTORO AGE: 66 HOMETOWN: Zelienople COMMUNITY ACTIVITY: Zelienople council member for more than 20 years; former mayor of Zelienople FAMILY: Brother, Benedict Santoro, of Staten Island, N.Y.; sister, Christine Shaffer, of Brookfield, Tioga County

"I was praying to lose the election," she said.

But Santoro won and took a seat on Zelienople council in 1980, becoming the first woman to do so.

Except for a break of a few years, she has served as an elected official in Zelienople -- including one term as mayor -- ever since. Last year, Santoro won the Pennsylvania State Association of Boroughs' Thomas F. Chrostwaite Award for 20 years of service.

But on Dec. 8, Santoro called it a day.

After casting her vote for the borough's $8.3 million budget for 2004, she retired.

At 66, Santoro said she felt it was time to move on. She said she didn't want to be known as council's "Energizer Bunny" and she didn't run in the last election.

"I want to give someone else a chance," she said. "I'll miss it, though."

Marietta Reeb is filling Santoro's seat.

Soft-spoken and self-effacing, Santoro wasn't drawn into the political fray for power or prestige. Twice as she was interviewed for this report, she said, "I don't know what all this hullabaloo is about."

"I just ran to see how a woman would do," she said, recalling her reason for first seeking office. She was aware at the time of a societal undercurrent that discouraged women from participating in politics. As recently as 2001, Pennsylvania ranked 47th among the 50 states based on the percentage of women politicians.

Shortly after she graduated from the former Zelienople High School, she moved to Washington, D.C., to attend George Washington University. She was working her way through school, taking classes at the university while working as a stenographer with the Department of the Navy.

But Santoro put aside the life she was creating in Washington when her mother, Helen, became ill. Santoro returned to Zelienople to help her sister, Rosemarie, care for their mother, said Benedict Santoro, Santoro's eldest brother.

Their father, Leonard Santoro, a World War I veteran and a tailor who immigrated from Calabria, Italy, had died in 1971, he said.

When she first thought about getting into politics in the 1970s, Mary Santoro said, she thought that her Italian background might be an obstacle.

"Zelienople was a different town then," she said. "There were only five Italian families. It was mainly German families."

But when her friend, Tom Oliverio, won a seat on council in 1978, he urged her to take the step.

"He said, 'Just try it,' " Santoro recalled. So, without telling her family, Santoro ran for an open seat.

"My mother was an old Italian woman," she said. "She was afraid. My father [hadn't thought] that women belonged in politics."

By then Santoro was working as a social worker at a local geriatric center. On the evening the election results were tallied, Santoro sat by the radio waiting for the news. When she heard that she'd won, she called the courthouse to make sure. Then she told her mother.

"My mother said, 'I didn't know I was going to say this, but I'm proud of you,'" she recalled. They celebrated with a glass of wine.

Once she got in office, Santoro chaired or worked on every committee from streets to finances, Oliverio said. "When she chaired the streets committee, she would always joke about being a lady of the streets," he said.

Although he and Santoro have at times been political foes, they have remained friends.

"Mary cares about people," Oliverio said. "She made decisions with her heart. She's a good person."

She also wouldn't back down from a position, he added.

"We've fought like cats and dogs, like brother and sister. We've challenged each other over issues."