PITTSBURGH -- Sophie Masloff, who rose from a tax clerk to become Pittsburgh's first female mayor, died Sunday. She was 96.
She died at an area hospice, said Joseph Mistick, Masloff's longtime friend and former top aide.
Masloff took office in May 1988 after the death of Richard Caliguiri, and she served until January 1994.
She good-naturedly described herself as an "old Jewish grandmother" and promised when she took office to be at work by 8 a.m. every day except Tuesdays when, she said, "I get my hair done."
Her tenure was marked by two reductions in the city wage tax, a move designed to keep residents from fleeing to the suburbs, and a complete overhaul of a disciplinary system for police officers.
Masloff faced challenges when she took office because of the collapse of the steel industry, but Mistick recalled that she used a combination of humor and resolve to silence critics.
The Masloff administration mounted an assault on the tax-exempt status of the city's profitable hospitals and prodded banks to channel more loans into city neighborhoods, some of which were increasingly crime-ridden.
When Bill Clinton was trying to stir up support in his 1992 presidential campaign, he called the mayor to let her know he was going to Pittsburgh. She was not convinced that the caller was Clinton and told him, "Right, and I'm the Queen of Sheba."
Masloff was born on Dec. 23, 1917, and was a lifelong resident of Pittsburgh. Her parents were Romanian immigrants, and Masloff spoke only Yiddish until she began attending school. Her husband of more than 50 years, Jack Masloff, died during his wife's term in office.
Metro on 08/19/2014