Koka Booth

Koka Edward Booth Jr. (August 12, 1932 – October 23, 2023) was a former mayor of Cary, North Carolina. He served as mayor between 1987 and 1999. He is the namesake of Koka Booth Amphitheatre in Cary.

Early life Booth was born on August 12, 1932, in Kenova, West Virginia. After he graduated from Ceredo-Kenova High School in 1950, his family moved to Rocky Mount, North Carolina. There, he worked with his brother at the Carolina Machinery & Supply Company as a service engineer.

Career Booth was a coal miner in Kenova. Eventually, he owned a share of a coal mine, which he sold at a profit. He worked in the communications department at SAS Institute in Cary, North Carolina from 1993 until 2007.

Booth was appointed to fill a vacancy in the Cary town council in 1978. In 2004, the amphitheatre was renamed the Koka Booth Amphitheatre in his honor.

Personal life Booth met his wife, Blanche Estelle Wilkens, while living in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. Booth felt that his sons would have no future in West Virginia and was attracted by the reputation of Cary High School's band.

Booth had a stroke in 2004, which required eighteen months of physical therapy and later brought on dementia. Booth died on October 10, 2023, in Cary. Flags around Cary were flown at half-mast for twelve days, symbolizing the twelve years that he was mayor.