Adele Khoury Graham (born April 4, 1938) is an American educator and the former
First Lady of Florida
The first lady of Florida is the title held by the hostess of the Florida Governor's Mansion, usually the spouse of the governor of Florida, concurrent with the governor's term in office.
Casey DeSantis is the current first lady of Florida, ass ...
from 1979 to 1987. She is the wife of the 38th
Governor of Florida
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political r ...
and former
United States Senator
The United States Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives being the Lower house, lower chamber. Together they compose the national Bica ...
Bob Graham
Daniel Robert "Bob" Graham (born November 9, 1936) is an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as the 38th governor of Florida from 1979 to 1987 and a United States senator from Florida from 1987 to 2005. He is a member of the Dem ...
.
Adele Graham was the First Lady of the state of
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
from 1979 to 1987. She spent her career as public school teacher in
and
Miami, Florida
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
. In all, the Grahams have four children and 11 grandchildren.
Life and career
Adele Khoury Graham was born and raised in Miami, Florida. Her parents, Mildred (Moore) and Gabriel Robert Khoury, both moved to Florida in the 1920s. Her mother came from Ohio. Her father was born in
Beirut, Lebanon
Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint of ...
, and spent his younger years, after immigrating, in the state of Georgia.
While at the University of Florida, she became engaged to Bob Graham. They married during her junior year and Bob's senior year. Then they moved to Boston, where Bob attended Harvard Law School and Adele graduated from Boston University. She taught English and history in the public schools in Wellesley, Massachusetts until Bob graduated from law school. In 1962, during her second year of teaching, she was selected as Massachusetts Teacher of the Year.
Returning to Miami, Adele became involved in civic affairs. She served as a board member with Beaux Arts at the Lowe Art Museum, the Board of Public Television, and Channel 2. She also organized a county-wide school volunteer resource guide for the Junior League, among other activities.
The first of the couple's four daughters,
Gwen Gwen may refer to:
* Gwen (given name), including a list of people with the name
* ''Gwen, or the Book of Sand'', a 1985 animated film
* Gwen (film), a 2018 horror film
* Tropical Storm Gwen, several storms with the name
Acronyms
* AN/URC-117 Grou ...
, was born in 1963. Cissy followed in 1964. At this time, she began 25 years of service as a school volunteer.
She campaigned with her husband for his election to the Florida House and Florida Senate. During each session of the legislature, the entire family would move to Tallahassee. During the legislative years, Suzanne was born in 1967 and Kendall was born in 1969 in Tallahassee. The two years of campaigning for Governor were busy and productive, and the entire family took part. In 1978, Adele's husband was elected as the 38th Governor of Florida and the family moved into the Governor's Mansion.
As First Lady of Florida, she became a leading advocate for the elderly. Her personal experiences with her older parents and their health needs led her to become a lobbyist, which had positive results. Florida began providing home-based services to older Floridians through the Community Care for the Elderly program. The ratings system and standards for nursing homes were improved. Under her leadership, Florida became the first state to license the Hospice program. In 1980, Adele served as Honorary Chairperson for the Governor's Conference on Aging and was an official to the 1981 White House Conference on Aging.
As an advocate for school volunteerism, she visited all 67 counties in Florida to promote school partnerships. The number of senior volunteers in Florida increased 100 percent.
As project Chairman for the National Association of Partners in Education, she co-authored a book, Finish for the Future, that identifies outstanding private sector initiatives in public schools for dropout prevention.
Adele participated in establishing a dropout prevention partnership program at her alma mater, Miami Edison High School, and successfully raised money to help high school students tutor younger students.
Historic preservation has been among her interests. During the family's tenure in Tallahassee, she restored the Governor's Mansion and added a Florida sunroom to the state home. Along with Mary Call Collins, she helped to save the historic Union Bank, and participated in saving Miami Edison Middle School, which is now registered on the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Her husband's public service continued in the United States Senate. During these years, as well as when she was First Lady, Adele served as Vice President of the Florida House, the state's embassy in the nation's capitol. She was also an active member of International Neighbor's Club # One in Washington, D.C.
Adele was awarded an Honorary Degree of Doctors of Laws from Barry University in recognition of her dedicated service as a wife, mother and educator. In 2005, she was selected "A Woman of Impact" in Greater Miami and the University of Florida honored her as an "Alumna of Outstanding Achievement."
Education
Adele Graham attended high school at
Miami Edison High School
Miami Edison High School is a secondary school located at 6161 NW 5 Ct. in the Little Haiti neighborhood of Miami, Florida, United States. It is part of the Miami-Dade County Public Schools system. Its provost is Leon Maycock.
Miami Edison is an ...
. Adele Graham was educated at the University of Florida and graduated from Boston University.
Graham's mother was of
Scotch-Irish descent and her father came from a family of
Maronite Christians
The Maronites ( ar, الموارنة; syr, ܡܖ̈ܘܢܝܐ) are a Christian ethnoreligious group native to the Eastern Mediterranean and Levant region of the Middle East, whose members traditionally belong to the Maronite Church, with the largest ...
from
Beirut
Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...
,
Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...
.
References
External links
List of the First Ladies of FloridaFL Governor's websiteinfo about Adele GrahamAdele Graham bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Graham, Adele K.
Living people
1938 births
First Ladies and Gentlemen of Florida
American educators
American people of Lebanese descent
American people of Scotch-Irish descent
University of Florida alumni
Florida Democrats