Florida Senate - 2025                            (NP)    SR 1856
       
       
        
       By Senator Pizzo
       
       
       
       
       
       37-02262-25                                           20251856__
    1                          Senate Resolution                        
    2         A resolution recognizing and celebrating the life and
    3         legacy of Senator Geraldine F. “Geri” Thompson.
    4  
    5         WHEREAS, Senator Geraldine F. Thompson was born in New
    6  Orleans, Louisiana, on November 18, 1948, and
    7         WHEREAS, Senator Geraldine F. Thompson was raised in Miami
    8  Dade County, in the town of Perrine, where she witnessed the
    9  hard work and dedication of her family, who held careers in the
   10  construction and agriculture industries and whose example shaped
   11  her commitment to living a life of service, justice, and
   12  empowerment of others, and
   13         WHEREAS, Senator Geraldine F. Thompson earned an
   14  undergraduate degree from the University of Miami in 1970 and a
   15  Master of Science degree from the Florida State University in
   16  1973, and
   17         WHEREAS, Senator Geraldine F. Thompson held multiple
   18  instructional and administrative leadership roles over the
   19  course of her impressive career, including serving as a teacher
   20  in Orange County Public Schools for 6 years and as an
   21  administrator at Valencia Community College for 24 years, where
   22  she established the College Reach-Out Program, enabling
   23  thousands of low-income and disadvantaged students to fulfill
   24  their dream of attending college, and
   25         WHEREAS, Senator Geraldine F. Thompson served with
   26  distinction in the Florida House of Representatives from 2006 to
   27  2012 for District 39 and from 2018 to 2022 for District 44, and
   28         WHEREAS, Senator Geraldine F. Thompson was elected to the
   29  Florida Senate in 2012 and served until 2016 for District 12 and
   30  was reelected in 2022 and served District 15 until her death
   31  February 13, 2025, and
   32         WHEREAS, Senator Geraldine F. Thompson made significant
   33  contributions toward African-American history, including
   34  authoring the book Black America: Orlando, Florida and founding
   35  the Wells’Built Museum of African American History and Culture,
   36  a museum preserving African Art and memorabilia of the Civil
   37  Rights Movement, located in Parramore, and
   38         WHEREAS, Senator Geraldine F. Thompson was a politician as
   39  well as a devoted wife to the Honorable Emerson R. Thompson,
   40  Jr.; a mother of three children, Laurise, Emerson III, and
   41  Elizabeth; a grandmother of six, Jasmyne, Imani, Kiara, Symone,
   42  Jacqueline, and Julia; and a great-grandmother, and
   43         WHEREAS, her love, wisdom, and compassion touched countless
   44  individuals throughout the State of Florida, NOW, THEREFORE,
   45  
   46  Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:
   47  
   48         That on this day, March 13, 2025, the Florida Senate fondly
   49  remembers and commemorates the life and legacy of its esteemed
   50  colleague, Senator Geraldine F. “Geri” Thompson, who diligently
   51  and lovingly served the people of Florida.