DeSantis gives directive for Capitol, Orange County to do same
By Teresa Sargeant
Reporter
In memory of late State Sen. Geraldine Thompson, the city of Apopka will fly the U.S. and state of Florida flags at half staff this Thursday.
In a Tuesday, March 11 memorandum, Gov. Ron DeSantis gave a directive for the flying of flags at half staff from sunrise to sunset on Thursday, March 13, at the State Capitol and all local and state buildings, grounds and installations throughout Orange County.
The memorandum was written for Brian Fienemann, director of the state Division of Real Estate Development and Management, Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings, and Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer.
Thompson died on Feb. 13 at the age of 76 due to complications from knee surgery.
“Senator Thompson spent her career committed to public service,” the memorandum reads. “She will be remembered for her dedication to improving her community.”
Apopka Mayor Bryan Nelson honored Thompson with a proclamation dated Feb. 27 and released on the city of Apopka website on March 5. In the document, Nelson asked all citizens to join him in honoring her memory for her contributions.
The city of Apopka will lower the flag to half-staff in Thompson’s memory, Mayor Bryan Nelson confirmed in a March 11 email.
“Senator Thompson was a terrific advocate for our Community and had a true love for service,” he wrote in the email.
Thompson had been a legislator for almost 20 years, most recently as a senator representing Senate District 15 for West Orange County, which encompasses Apopka, from November 2022 until her death.
Thompson served three terms in the Florida House of Representatives from 2006 to 2012, followed by the Florida Senate from 2012 to 2016, then the Florida House of Representatives from 2018 until 2022. In 2022, she campaigned for and was elected to Florida Senate District 15.
When Thompson won election in November 2018 for Florida House District 44, she became the first woman Democrat and person of color to serve in that office.
Prior to her venture into politics, Thompson was employed as an Orange County Public Schools educator for six years, then an administrator at Valencia Community College for 24 years.
As a civil rights advocate, Thompson sought to preserveregional African American history. Her achievements include penning the book “Black America: Orlando, Florida” and crusading to protect the Wells’Bulit Hotel, which provided accommodations to many Africans Americans including dignitaries, entertainers and athletes during the segregation era. The hotel is now the Wells’Built Museum of African American History and Culture in Orlando’s Parramore district.
Thompson is survived by her husband, the Honorable Emerson R. Thompson, Jr., her three children, and six grandchildren.
“Senator Geraldine Thompson was so much more than a dedicated public servant and visionary leader. She was a devoted wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother whose love, wisdom, and compassion shaped their lives and the lives of so many in their community and across the state,” Thompson’s family said in a statement on Feb. 14.
The Apopka Chief is an award-winning weekly newspaper serving the greater Apopka area in Central Florida since 1923.
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