America is mourning the loss of a trailblazer.
Mia Love, who became the first Black Republican congresswoman when she was elected to represent Utah’s 4th Congressional District in 2014, died in her Saratoga Springs home March 23 after a years-long battle with cancer. She was 49.
“With grateful hearts filled to overflowing for the profound influence of Mia on our lives, we want you to know that she passed away peacefully today,” Mia’s family wrote in a statement posted to X (formerly Twitter) March 23. “She was in her home surrounded by family. In the midst of a celebration of her life and an avalanche of happy memories, Mia quietly slipped the bands of mortality and, as her words and vision always did, soared heavenward.”
“We are thankful for the many good wishes, prayers and condolences,” the statement continued. “We are taking some time as a family and will provide information about funeral services and a public celebration of her life in the days to come.”
Mia was diagnosed with glioblastoma brain cancer in 2022 and relied on her faith as well as immunotherapy as part of a clinical trial to fight the disease with optimism and positivity. But just two weeks before her death, the former congresswoman shared the unfortunate news that her cancer had stopped responding to treatment and expressed one final wish for the country’s future.
“My dear friends, fellow Americans and Utahns,” Mia wrote in an open letter published by Deseret News March 11. “I am taking up my pen, not to say goodbye but to say thank you and express my living wish for you and the America I know.”
“My battle with brain cancer is coming to an end,” she continued. “The disease is no longer responding to treatment and my family and I have shifted our focus from treatments, to enjoying every moment and making memories with the time we have.”
Reflecting on her experience as a daughter of Haitian immigrants, Mia went on to detail the qualities that she believed make America truly great: being a country that gives back, one that makes tough choices and one that is grounded in “gritty determination.”
“Couching this column as a ‘dying wish’ felt a little dramatic, even for a drama person like me,” Mia wrote. “We are not certain how long this season of my battle will be and I do want to share, and reshare, some things with the world that I passionately believe. I write all of this as my ‘living wish’ and hopefully ‘enduring wish’ for you.”
“My living wish and fervent prayer for you and for this nation is that the America I have known, is the America you fight to preserve,” she concluded, “and that each citizen, and every leader, will do their part to ensure that the America we know will be the America our grandchildren and great grandchildren will inherit.”
