{{Short description|American politician and businesswoman}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Beth Finch | image = | order = | office = Mayor of Fayetteville, North Carolina | term_start = 1975 | term_end = 1981 | predecessor = Jack Lee | successor = Bill Hurley | birth_date = 1921 | birth_place = Dunn, North Carolina | death_date = December 27, {{Death year and age|2012|1921}} | death_place = | alma_mater = University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | profession = | spouse = Tom Finch (1944–2004) | party = Democratic }}
'''Beth Dail Finch''' (1921 – December 27, 2012) was an American politician and businessperson. Finch served as the first female Mayor of Fayetteville, North Carolina, from 1975 to 1981.<ref name=wral>{{cite news|title=Fayetteville's only female mayor dies at 91 |url=http://www.wral.com/fayetteville-s-only-female-mayor-dies-at-91/11921165/ |work=WRAL |date=2012-12-28 |access-date=2013-01-08}}</ref> She is the only woman to hold that office as of 2021.<ref name=wral/><ref name=news14>{{cite news|first=Preston|last=Jones|title=Fayetteville community to gather in memory of Beth Finch |url=http://coastal.news14.com/content/top_stories/679188/fayetteville-community-to-gather-in-memory-of-beth-finch |work=News 14 Carolina |date=2012-12-29 |access-date=2013-01-08}}</ref><ref name=fo>{{cite news|first=Chick|last=Jacobs|title=Former mayor Beth Dail Finch recalled as 'gentle,' 'strong' |url=http://fayobserver.com/articles/2012/12/28/1226746 |work=Fayetteville Observer |date=2012-12-28 |access-date=2013-01-08}}</ref>
Finch was born '''Beth Dail''' as the only child of Joseph and Eulah Dail in Dunn, North Carolina, in 1921. She graduated from an academy in Virginia and received a bachelor's degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She worked for the ''Dunn Dispatch'' and ''The Fayetteville Observer'' after college. She married her husband, Tom Finch, in 1944 and moved to Fayetteville. Her husband founded Finch Oil in 1955.<ref name=fo/>
Beth Finch, a Democrat throughout her life, entered politics in the 1960s. She served on the successful 1960 gubernatorial campaign of Terry Sanford, a longtime friend. He was elected Governor of North Carolina that year.<ref name=fo/>
Finch lost her first election campaign for the Fayetteville city council in 1969. However, she won election to the city council in 1971 and was re-elected to her seat in 1973.<ref name=fo/> She was also elected mayor ''pro tem'' during her second term on the council.<ref name=wral/>
Fayetteville's two-term Mayor Jack Lee retired from office in 1975. He suggested that Finch run to succeed him. Beth Finch won the 1975 mayoral election, becoming the city's first female mayor. As mayor, Finch replaced the city's aging public buses and outdated garbage collection methods. She became the first female president of the North Carolina League of Municipalities in 1980.<ref name=fo/>
Finch stepped down from office in 1981 to return to her family's business. She was succeeded by Mayor Bill Hurley, a former colleague from the city council.<ref name=fo/>
Beth Finch died on December 27, 2012, at the age of 91.<ref name=wral/> Her husband, Tom Finch, died in 2004.<ref name=fo/>
==References== {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Finch, Beth}} Category:1921 births Category:2012 deaths Category:Mayors of Fayetteville, North Carolina Category:North Carolina city council members Category:Women mayors of places in North Carolina Category:North Carolina Democrats Category:University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni Category:People from Dunn, North Carolina Category:American women journalists Category:Women city councillors in North Carolina Category:20th-century American women politicians Category:20th-century mayors of places in North Carolina
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