HomeMy WebLinkAbout07-075
RESOLUTION NO. 07-075
A RESOLUTION HONORING DR. SAMUEL GAINES WHO
HAS BEEN CHOSEN AS "HISTORY MAKER" IN ST.
LUCIE COUNTY, FLORIDA, FOR EXEMPLIFYING
OUTSTANDING CITIZENSHIP THROUGH HIS MAJOR
CONTRIBUTIONS TO OUR COMMUNITY IN THE FIELD OF
EDUCATION
WHEREAS, the Board of County Commissioners of St. Lucie
County, Florida, has made the following determinations:
1. Dr. Samuel Gaines was born on January 25, 1938, raised in
St. Lucie County, and is a proud Graduate of Lincoln Park Academy
in 1956 and from Talladega College in 1960. After graduating from
College he entered the McAllister School of Mortuary Science
located in New York City. Upon completion of Mortuary School, he
became an employee of Stone Brothers Funeral Home here in Fort
Pierce.
2. Upon the retirement of his Grandfather, he assumed the
position of Manager of Stone Brothers Funeral Home.
Later, upon
the demise of this Grandfather, he became Sole Proprietor, and
served as President of the State and National Mortuary Society.
3. On August 4, 1962, Samuel married the lovely Theressa
Dillard of Roanoke, Virginia.
This union has been blessed with
three children, Andre (Sibyl), Arnold (Rae) and Alwyn; and six
Grandchildren, Lauren, Kiara, Courtney, Andre, Nyree, and Aiden.
Samuel' s daughter, Alwyn, has now successfully taken over the
management of the Funeral Business.
4. Dr. Gaines is a loyal member of the St. paul African
Methodist Episcopal Church where he has served for many years as
Trustee.
His most rewarding event at St. Paul' s was raising
$72,000.00 during an Annual Men's Day affair which lead to the
burning of the $300,000.00 Church Mortgage.
5. In June of 1972, Florida Governor Rueben Askew appointed
Samuel to fill a vacancy on the St. Lucie County Schoo 1 Board. He
ran in the primary that year and has been successful in all of his
re-election bids. With his retirement in 2006, he had served over
thirty-four years on the St. Lucie County School Board.
During
this time he has been Chairman and Vice-Chair. Several times over
he was instrumental in developing the system's television
capabilities and was early to recognize the enormous impact of
technology which enabled our schools to be the First in the Tri-
County Area to have computers in the schools.
6. Dr. Samuel Gaines' thirty-four years of continuous
service on the St. Lucie County School Board credits him with being
not only the longest serving Schoo 1 Board Member in Florida, but,
he is also the First and only African American elected to our St.
Lucie County School Board.
Through all the years he has always
been a ~History MakerH.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Board of County
Commissioners of St. Lucie County:
1. This Board does hereby honor Dr, Samuel Gaines who has
been chosen as "HISTORY MAKER" in St. Lucie County, Florida, for
exemplifying
outstanding
citizenship
his
major
through
contributions to our community in the field of education.
2. This Board encourages the citizens of St. Lucie County to
participate in honoring Dr. Samuel Gaines at a dinner celebration
to be held in conjunction with the National Celebration of Black
History Month at the Pelican Yacht Club in Fort Pierce, Florida, on
Thursday
bruary 22, 2007, beginning at 6:30 p.m.
ATTEST:
this 20th day of February, 2007
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
ST. LUCIE COUNTY, FLORIDA
BY:
C
FORM AND