BELHAVEN — At Wednesday’s special called Board of Aldermen meeting in Belhaven, Steve Carawan was sworn in to fill the vacant seat of Dr. Charles Boyette.

Boyette, 81, passed away unexpectedly on Sunday, March 13, from what Mayor Adam O’Neal said was a heart attack. Boyette was elected to a seat on the board in the November 2015 election.

On Monday, O’Neal said he wasn’t sure how the board would proceed, but at Wednesday’s meeting, he said he couldn’t think of a better man for the job than Carawan.

“It was a shock to all of us, a heartbreak to most of us, and we lost a great advocate for Belhaven,” O’Neal said of Boyette’s death.

Carawan has lived in Belhaven for almost 50 years, working as a realtor for about 25 years at O’Neal and Associates Inc. He previously served two terms as an alderman and two years as mayor pro tem.

“I’m very honored that the mayor thought enough of me to ask me to come back to the board,” Carawan said. “I have a lot of respect for Dr. Boyette. At one time we were political adversaries, but as time went by, the differences grew smaller. … Those wounds were healed, and I was certainly in his corner.”

Carawan said he was struck by Boyette’s obituary, in which the family wrote that it was his last wish for Belhaven’s hospital to be reopened, and that’s exactly the legacy Carawan wants to continue.

“I will endeavor to persevere, and I’ll try to do a good job,” he said. “I know the mayor has worked his tail off. … Now I hope to be able to be there with him in this fight.”

The Board of Aldermen voted to bring Carawan on as its new member, 2-1, not including O’Neal. Alderman Ricky Credle was the sole dissenting vote.