Effingham County’s government and community are mourning the loss of one of its most dedicated cheerleaders.

Connie Burns, the longtime director of the county sanitation department, died Sunday in Augusta after falling ill Saturday. She was 43.

County Administrator David Crawley and Effingham Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Rick Lott both expressed their sorrow at the loss of a friend and co-worker.

“It seemed like she put herself whole-hog into anything she did,” Lott said, “and always with a smile and always with a new idea and a better idea. Time and time again, when you needed her, she was always there.”

As an example, Burns dressed up as the “Queen of Trash” for the first Effingham Idol last April, right down to a red dress, sash and tiara.

“She wanted to make ‘Effingham Idol’ a fun event,” Lott said. “Nobody could have done it the way Connie did.”

Crawley, as county administrator, was Burns’ supervisor. But the two also were close friends, and Crawley, his wife Patrice and Burns traveled together.

“We did a lot of stuff together,” he said. “We spent holidays and vacations together.”

Crawley went to Augusta on Saturday once he learned what happened to Burns and went back Sunday with his wife.

“Connie loved her job,” Crawley said. “She was a go-to person for anything and everything.”

Burns also pushed to institute recycling in the county. Just last week, she gave a presentation at a Solid Waste Association of North America meeting in Washington, D.C., and she was also on the Governor’s Task Force for Litter Abatement and Prevention.

“She had more friends than anyone I know,” Crawley said. “She had more connections. She knew everybody. She knew everybody.”

Lott also noted how Burns took pride in the annual Effingham Day at the Capitol event, making sure the county put on a good face for state lawmakers and officials.

“She loved that kind of stuff,” he said. “You threw her an idea, and boy, you could see the wheels turning. Her spirit was also so giving and upbeat, and things always hadn’t been the rosiest in her life.

“She loved her county and she loved the people here.”