Joan Chew transcribes information about veterans dating from the Revolutionary War from paper to computer files in July 2017. Chew, a former Butler County commissioner and treasurer who volunteered hours of her time to transcribe the documents, died Tuesday. She was 91.

Joan Chew of Butler was an ardent supporter of the Republican Party who became the county's first female commissioner.

She survived several bouts with cancer before she died at age of 91 Tuesday morning in the South Side neighborhood home she was born and raised.

Chew also served on the board of the Ellen O'Brien Gaiser Center, on the board of trustees at Butler County Community College and then county-owned Sunnyview Rehabilitation and Nursing Center, and as the county treasurer.

Retired Common Pleas Court Judge Martin J. O'Brien said he and Chew lived a block away from each other as children.

“She was a good friend, and I'm very sorry to see her pass,” O'Brien said.

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