FARGO  (Ryan Stotts, INFORUM) — Jocelyn Burdick, 97, died Thursday, Dec. 26, in Bethany on University. She was the first woman from North Dakota to serve in the U.S. Senate, although she never ran for office.

Her husband, Sen. Quentin Burdick, died in 1992 while in the office, and his wife filled his seat for a three-month term until a special election could be held for a replacement. While initially hopeful more women would fill the Senate chambers from North Dakota, only Democrat Heidi Heitkamp has been elected since 1992.

Birch Burdick, Cass County State’s Attorney and Burdick’s son, said his mother was a woman of deep faith with a good sense of her relationship with God. That faith guided her in life, he said, and gave her a sense of principle and comfort.

“She had the opportunity to do a great many great things in life,” he said. “And she did.”