Berkeley Mayor Babatunde Deinbo dead at 73

BERKELEY — Berkeley Mayor Babatunde Deinbo, a fixture in government and politics in the north St. Louis County city for three decades, died Monday at his home. He was 73.

Deinbo had been fighting gall bladder cancer for the past year, family members said. He was re-elected to his third term as mayor last April. Because of his worsening condition, they said he had recently submitted his resignation, which took effect earlier Monday.



Deinbo first served as mayor from 2000 to 2004, then was elected again to the post in 2020. He was a city councilman from 1996 to 2000 and councilman at large from 2004 to 2014. His wife, Marian Deinbo, said he was active in politics for so many years "because he loved it so much.

" And, she said, "it was kind of in his blood. His dad was a tribal leader" in Nigeria, where Deinbo grew up. In his recent terms as mayor, she said, he was proud of his efforts to upgrade city parks and streets.

Deinbo came to the United States in 1977 to attend the University of Missouri-St. Louis at the urging of his sister, who already was living here. She died several years ago.

At UMSL he earned a bachelor's degree in speech communications and a master's in political science. Earlier he had studied at the Sorbonne in France and in Great Britain. At UMSL he was a founder and president of the International Students Organization which helped foreign students at the school.

For 32 years Deinbo worked for the St. Louis Public Schools, much of that time as cultural resources coordinator at Soldan International Studies High School. He also was an assistant principal at Soldan, his wife said.

Funeral arrangements have yet to be announced. Among other survivors are two sons, David Deinbo of St. Charles and Howard Washington of Torrance, California, and a daughter, Ajike Deinbo of Jennings.

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