Senate Bill sb0052A

    Florida Senate - 2003                                  SR 52-A

    By Senator Carlton





    23-2633-03

  1                    Senate Resolution No. ____

  2         A resolution honoring the memory of Senator

  3         Doyle E. Carlton, Jr.

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  5         WHEREAS, Doyle E. Carlton, Jr., served with distinction

  6  in the Florida Senate for a decade, and

  7         WHEREAS, it is most appropriate that the Florida Senate

  8  commemorate the passing of one of its former members who

  9  served his district and the State of Florida with distinction,

10  NOW, THEREFORE,

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12  Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:

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14         That this legislative body does pause in its

15  deliberations to pay its respects to the late Senator Doyle E.

16  Carlton, Jr., and that the Florida Senate in session assembled

17  does record this testimonial of esteem and bereavement:

18                           IN MEMORIAM

19                      DOYLE E. CARLTON, JR.

20         A sixth-generation Floridian, Doyle E. Carlton, Jr.,

21  was born in Tampa on July 4, 1922, and died on May 10, 2003,

22  in Wauchula. From 1929-1933, his father was Governor of

23  Florida, but during the summer, young Doyle worked on

24  relatives' farms in Hardee County. A basketball star,

25  president of the student body at Plant High School (class of

26  1940), and captain of the basketball team at the University of

27  Florida, Doyle E. Carlton, Jr., continued his achievements

28  throughout his life. He narrowly lost the Democratic

29  nomination for Governor in 1960, after telling a reporter that

30  he would not withdraw his child from the public schools if the

31  schools were integrated, and in 1991, received the first LeRoy

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    Florida Senate - 2003                                  SR 52-A
    23-2633-03




 1  Collins Award for Political Courage in recognition of his 1957

 2  opposition to closing public schools rather than comply with

 3  the U.S. Supreme Court's integration order. A State Senator

 4  for 10 years, Doyle E. Carlton, Jr., promoted the well-being

 5  of this state by persuading the Senate to fund the successful

 6  eradication of the screwworm fly, which was decimating

 7  Florida's cattle. Senator Carlton fought successfully to save

 8  the state fair from closing, was a charter member of the

 9  Florida State Fair Authority, and served as chairman of the

10  authority for 12 years. He was devoted to his wife, the former

11  Mildred Woodbery, whom he married in 1944 and who worked with

12  him to help create Cracker Country at the Florida State Fair.

13  This collection of pioneer Florida buildings includes Senator

14  Carlton's childhood home, built in Hardee County by his

15  grandparents in the 1880's. Together, the Carltons raised

16  three children and contributed significantly to society, in

17  part by supporting Hardee Memorial Hospital, Pioneer Park in

18  Zolfo Springs, and Tampa's Joshua House for unwed mothers.

19  Mrs. Carlton died in January of this year. Praised by friends

20  as a generous and unassuming man, Senator Carlton was also

21  active in the First Baptist Church of Wauchula from 1948 until

22  his death. He served on the Southern Baptist Convention's

23  Brotherhood Commission from 1956 to 1963, chaired that

24  commission in 1959, and was vice president of the Florida

25  Baptist Convention in 1960. Senator Carlton is survived by one

26  son, Doyle E. Carlton, II; two daughters, Susan Carlton Smith

27  and Jane Carlton Durando; one sister, Martha Carlton Ward; 6

28  grandchildren; and 10 great-grandchildren. In 1991, Senator

29  Carlton expressed his clearsighted view of life in these

30  words:  "It's so clear to me that whatever I have, I'm not

31  taking it with me when I leave. The earth is God's, the cattle

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    Florida Senate - 2003                                  SR 52-A
    23-2633-03




 1  belong to Him. The greatest treasure is the love my children

 2  and grandchildren have for each other."

 3         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution,

 4  signed by the President of the Senate, with the Seal of the

 5  Senate affixed, be transmitted to Doyle E. Carlton, II, as a

 6  tangible token of the sentiments expressed herein and as a

 7  lasting symbol of the respect of the members of the Florida

 8  Senate.

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