Eunice 'Kit' Burstein, 80; Waltham civic activist protected the Charles River

Eunice Burstein had lived in Waltham for 55 years, 45 of them in its Angleside neighborhood, a peninsula in the Charles.

When Waltham's Democratic City Committee was seeking candidates last year for its annual Hero's Award for contributions to the city, members said the choice was easy: Eunice Burstein, known to all as Kit.

Though in failing health the last three years, Mrs. Burstein arrived at the awards ceremony with family at the Rendevous Restaurant and Lounge in Waltham using a walker. In her acceptance speech, she urged others to work to improve the city and the world around it.

"Instead of talking about her ailments or her life, Kit talked about the future," said Tom Barbera of Waltham, a member of the committee and chairman of the event. "She talked about education and the kind of impact environmental change would have on us and our children. She was totally selfless when she spoke. She was always an independent voice and spoke her mind."

She received a standing ovation.

Mrs. Burstein, who was deeply involved in the Waltham Public Library, the League of Women Voters, and such environmental issues as protecting the Charles River, died July 23 at Newton-Wellesley Hospital of chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder. She was 80.

She had lived in Waltham for 55 years, 45 of them in its Angleside neighborhood, a peninsula in the Charles.

Her daughter, Susan of Waltham, said her mother was reading resumes of potential librarians for the Waltham Public Library while hospitalized.

Added her son Mark of Arlington, she had recently done "all the legwork and research" that might provide more parking space for the library.

"She was brave right up to the very end of her life," he said.

When her husband, Harold, an antiquarian book dealer, became ill in 1980 Mrs. Burstein worked with him in his shop in Waltham Center.

She ran it for a while after his death in 1988 until a son took over.

She also filled her husband's seat on the board of Waltham's library. Former librarian Thomas Jewell of Falmouth cited her key role in keeping the library open on summer Sundays.

"Kit championed people who do not go on vacation in the summer and would use the library then," he said.

The push for Sunday hours was "Kit's work," said Waltham library trustee Joan Garniss. "She did all the background work and research. Any task that Kit undertook she did with the most wonderful calm and thorough approach and did it all very much a lady."

Others agreed. "Kit was not a screamer," said Robert Logan, a Waltham city councilor. "Kit had a lot of energy but was low-key, with a more intellectual approach."

If she had an issue with the city, he said, "she would always say, 'Robert, I want to speak with you for a minute.' Then, she would lay out a situation and very genteelly, calmly, and logically explain it."

Mrs. Burstein used that persuasion in the late 1960s, her daughter said, to persuade Waltham's mayor to form the Waltham Conservation Commission.

She was appointed its first chairman.

She also served on the board of directors of the Charles River Watershed Association, a group that monitors development along the river. One issue she stressed was unclogging the river of the invasive water chestnut weed.

"As recently as last year," her daughter said, "mother lobbied hard to get the state to finance the harvesting of the water chestnut in the river for another year."

Rita Barron, formerly of Newtonville and a former executive director of the association, said Mrs. Burstein played a major role in improving conditions of the river.

"She knew how to present problems and potential solutions to whatever political entity in Waltham was key to river improvement, and she was persistent," said Barron, of Irving, Texas.

"While she always showed respect for the opposition, she was firm in her pursuit of her objectives and, indeed, turned many opponents into supporters of the cause."

Eunice Katz was born in Lyndhurst, Ohio, the eldest of three children of Sidney and Wilma (Winters) Katz. She graduated from high school at 16 as class valedictorian and received a degree in occupational therapy from New York University in 1949.

While still in her 20s, she ran an occupational therapy clinic in Hartford before moving to Boston in 1950 to work at Massachusetts General Hospital. She met Harold on a blind date. They married in 1953 and settled in Waltham.

Her daughter said her involvement in environmental issues began when she joined the Waltham chapter of the League of Women Voters in 1956. She was its president from 1959 to 1961 and served on its water resources committee, among others. In 1977, she ran unsuccessfully for City Council.

Over the years, Mrs. Burstein and her husband worked on campaigns of Democratic candidates from Massachusetts, including those of the late Massachusetts congressman Robert Drinan and US Representative Barney Frank.

In 2006, after 50 years in the league, she received its lifetime achievement award.

To a new generation of women, Mrs. Burstein was "a role model, largely by example," said her daughter. She was among those inspired, having served on both the City Council and School Committee in Waltham.

In addition to her son Mark and daughter, Susan, Mrs. Burstein leaves two other sons, Michael of Bernardston and Matthew of New York City; and four granddaughters.

A memorial service is planned for September.