‘Trailblazer' Geraldine Thompson remembered in Orlando memorial service
Friends, family and public servants from across the state gathered Friday in Orlando to celebrate the life of state Sen. Geraldine Thompson, remembered as a 'giant' in Florida politics, Black history and civil rights.
'She was tenacious,' said former state Sen. Arthenia Joyner, D-Tampa. 'She always did what she believed to be right, regardless of what others said. She never backed down. She was a difference maker, a motivator, an agitator, a negotiator, a woman with a calm demeanor.'
Thompson, 76, died Feb. 13 following complications from knee replacement surgery, after having represented western Orange County for more than 16 years as a Democrat in the Florida Legislature in both the state House and Senate. She was reelected to the state Senate in November.
Her memorial service at Orlando's Majestic Life Church drew many state and local politicians, including Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, U.S. Rep. Maxwell Frost, and state Senate President Ben Albritton and featured touching remembrances from lifelong friends and tearful goodbyes from her children and grandchildren.
'She believed in us so hard, breathed life into us and made us believe in ourselves so strongly that I think each of us sit here knowing there's nothing that we can't do,' said her daughter Elizabeth Grace.
Charlean Gatlin, a former staff member, asked everyone who ever worked for Thompson to stand.
'Ladies and gentlemen, the individuals standing before you are representations of Sen. Thompson's essence of influence,' Gatlin said. 'They are educators, community advocates, lobbyists and public servants whose round of expertise has reached from the State House to the White House.'
Thompson's granddaughter, Symone Thompson, said Thompson's 'work ethic, her voracious reading, her passion for her community, her determination and her strength were all things that I admire about her. But I think that her love for the preservation of Black history and the importance of sharing Black stories is something that I will never forget.'
State Sen. Geraldine Thompson — veteran educator, lawmaker and civil rights champion — dies at 76 after complications from knee surgery
Thompson, a former Orange County school teacher and Valencia College administrator, turned the historic Orlando hotel for African Americans during Jim Crow into the Wells' Built Museum of African American History and Culture. She also fervently defended the teaching of Black history from the floor of the House and Senate.
'African American history is Florida history. It's American history,' Thompson said in a speech in the Senate, played in a video during the ceremony.
'In order to know who you are, you have to know where you come from, and how those who came before you have sacrificed and struggled to give you the opportunities that you have,' Symone Thompson said. 'I'm proud to be a legacy of Geraldine Thompson, and I will continue to work to preserve her story.'
Dr. LaVon Bracy, Thompson's friend of more than 50 years and the maid of honor in Thompson's wedding to her husband, Emerson, said it was not a coincidence that Thompson died during Black History Month.
'I feel that it is divinely ordained,' Bracy said. 'A reminder to always honor her legacy and say her name during the month that we celebrate Black trailblazers who have made significant contributions to our culture and to this country.'
Bracy also tied Thompson's efforts at the University of Miami — where as one of the few Black students she fought for faculty representation and the establishment of a Black Student Union — to the concept of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, which is currently being struck from government contracts and agencies in the state and federal governments and dropped by many corporations.
'Geraldine played an integral role in securing DEI victories 55 years ago,' Bracy said. 'DEI is still, unfortunately, under attack. I realize that the fight continues, and I'm grateful that there are people in this room, especially lawmakers here in this room, that have and will continue to embrace the spirit of resistance that she helped shape.'
Bracy's speech was all the more notable as her son, former state Sen. Randolph Bracy, ran against Thompson in a bitterly personal Democratic primary battle last year.
Thompson drew the endorsements of most of her Democratic colleagues in Central Florida, including state Rep. LaVon Bracy Davis, Bracy's daughter and Randolph Bracy's sister, and won handily to secure what would be her final term in office.
LaVon Bracy said she was at Thompson's bedside when she died, 'to witness the passing of the giant and the falling of a great tree.'
'God called his own special session,' Bracy said. 'I believe that my friend of over a half a century stood up and said, 'This is Geraldine. I am present.''
Thompson is also survived by her son Emerson Thompson III, daughter Laurise Thomas, six other grandchildren and a great-grandson.
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