CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – A Celebration of Life has been set for March 1 at Unitarian Universalist Church for the late former Charlottesville Mayor Satyendra Huja. He  passed away Valentines Day at age 83. Born in Kohat, India in 1942 — which is now Pakistan — he immigrated to the U.S. with his family in 1960, graduated from Cornell undergrad and Michigan State grad, and worked in the City of Charlottesville 33 years.

His tenures included directorships of planning, community development, and strategic planning where he was a strong advocate for the Downtown Mall, as well as revitalizations of Court Square, the Corner, and Starr Hill. He served on City Council beginning in 2008 and became the first Indian Sikh mayor of an American city in 2012 and served until 2016. Click here for his entire obit.