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Samuel Albert “Sam” Mabry, a former Falls Church City Council member and vice mayor, died peacefully in his sleep July 4 in Falls Church, Virginia. He was 84, according to the reported March 27, 1942, birth date and the age identified in the article’s body.

Mabry was elected to the City Council in 1996. He lost a bid for another term in 2000, then returned to the council after winning a four-year term in 2002. His colleagues selected him as vice mayor after that election. The supplied account does not specify the dates or precise length of his vice-mayoral service.

In 2006, Mabry chose not to seek reelection while leading an unsuccessful referendum campaign intended to restrict mixed-use development in downtown Falls Church. He declined to run for council again in 2008 and lost his final council race in 2015.

Mabry’s public career began after he and his wife, Sandra “Sandy” Starbuck Mabry, moved from California to Arlington in 1965. He worked for Rep. John J. McFall for 13 years and eventually became McFall’s chief of staff. After McFall left office, Mabry worked for House Speaker Thomas “Tip” O’Neill Jr.

He later spent more than two decades as vice president of government affairs at Hercules, Inc., remaining with the company until his retirement.

Mabry and Sandy moved into Falls Church’s historic Birch House in 1984. The account also describes Mabry as a gardener whose award-winning garden appeared on the Falls Church garden tour and was featured twice in the Virginia State Garden show.

He graduated from Manteca Union High School, earned a Bachelor of Arts from Santa Clara University and pursued a master’s degree at the University of the Pacific.

Mabry is survived by his wife of 62 years, three children and five grandchildren. Services were to be private. Memorial contributions were directed to Washington Jesuit Academy.