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RESOLUTION NO. 05-268
A RESOLUTION HONORING IMOGENE GRIFFIS
VAUGHN ON BEING ONE OF THE TWO OLDEST
LIVING ST. LUCIE COUNTY NATIVES BEING
RECOGNIZED DURING THE CELEBRATION OF THE
looth YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THE
ESTABLISHMENT OF ST. LUCIE COUNTY, FLORIDA
WHEREAS, the Board of County Commissioners of St. Lucie County, Florida,
has made the following determinations:
1. In search for the oldest living St. Lucie County native, two ninety-three
year old women were deemed worthy of recognition,
2, Like many of the men working for Henry Flagler's railroad, Newbern
Collins Griffis didn't stay in one place too long, But he and his wife, Mary Jane Minor
Griffis, stayed in Fort Pierce long enough for their daughter, Imogene, to be born here
on May 16, 1912.
3. "My father used to say that Fort Pierce was the finest city between
Jacksonville and Miami," Imogene Griffis Vaughn recalled recently, adding that her
father also touted the Fort Pierce water to be particularly healthful.
4, "It was something about the sulphur in it," she said, adding that he was
98 years old when he died.
5. "When I was born, my father was so happy he opened an account in my
name at the St, Lucie County Bank," Vaughn said. "He put a dollar in the account."
6. Va ughn doesn't know what happened to the dollar or the interest it would
have accrued over 93 years; but when she applied for a job at Pan American Airlines
and didn't have a birth certificate, she was able to produce paperwork from the account
to prove her age,
7. The Griffises' home was on Orange Avenue where St, Mark Missionary
Baptist Church now stands,
8. When Vaughn was about 2 % years old, her father was transferred to
Miami; and the family moved there, "But we would come up to Fort Pierce all the
time," Vaughn said, recalling that when the train would near Fort Pierce, a conductor
would walk through the passenger car and holler, "Entering Fort Fierce," "That's what
they called it, 'Fort Fierce,' because the mosquitoes were so bad," Vaughn said,
"Everybody knew to shut their windows when the train got to Fort Pierce to keep the
mosquitos out,"
9, In her late teens, she met and married Harry Edward Vaughn Jr, from
Nashville, Tennessee, Both the Vaughns worked as mechanics for Pan American
Airways for 35 years, In fact they were the first married couple to work for the
company.
10. Mter 61 years of marriage, Harry Vaughn died on June 2, 1990, Vaughn
still lives in Miami, "But Fort Pierce is still a special place to me," she said.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Board of County
Commissioners of St, Lucie County, Florida:
1. This Board does hereby Honor Imogene Griffis Vaughn on being one of the
two oldest living St, Lucie County Natives during the Celebration of the 100th Year
Anniversary of the establishment of St, Lucie County, Florida,
2, This Board wishes Mrs, Vaughn many more Happy Birthdays.
PASSED AND DULY ADOPTED this 28th day of June, 2005.
ATTEST:
BOARD OF COUNTY COM1\1ISSIONERS
ST. LUCIE COUNTY, FW:RIDA
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