Margie Mixson

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Margie Mixson
First Lady of Florida
In office
January 3, 1987 – January 6, 1987
GovernorWayne Mixson
Preceded byAdele Khoury Graham
Succeeded byMary Jane Martinez
Second Lady of Florida
In office
January 2, 1979 – January 3, 1987
Personal details
Born
Margie Grace

(1927-07-12)July 12, 1927
DiedDecember 27, 2023(2023-12-27) (aged 96)
Panama City, Florida, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic[1]
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1947; died 2020)​
Alma materFlorida State University
University of Florida

Margie Mixson (née Grace; July 12, 1927 – December 27, 2023) was an American educator who served as the Second Lady of Florida from 1979 to 1987, and as the First Lady of Florida for three days alongside her husband Lieutenant Governor and Governor Wayne Mixson.

Early life[edit]

Bob Graham, Adele Khoury Graham, Margie Mixson, and Wayne Mixson in 1986

On July 12, 1927, Margie Grace was born to George Grace and Wilkie Bowen.[2] Her great-grandfather Henry Bartlett Grace served as a Confederate army officer and aided in the foundation of Graceville, Florida.[3] When she was 14 she met Wayne Mixson, who was 19.[4] On December 27, 1947, she married Mixson in Graceville, Florida.[5]

Mixson graduated from Graceville High School, Florida State University with a bachelor's degree, and the University of Florida with a master's degree.[4][1][6] During her education at Florida State University she became a member of Kappa Delta Pi.[7]

After graduating from university she started teaching English in Campbellton, Florida and at Graceville High School.[8][9][10] She later served as an American Literature professor at Chipola College for thirty years until her husband was elected as the 12th Lieutenant Governor of Florida.[4][11][12]

Second and First Lady[edit]

Second Lady[edit]

In 1979, Mixson was appointed to serve as one of the thirty-eight members of the Florida Commission on the Status of Women which also had state Representative Elaine Gordon and Representative Carrie Meek.[13] She served as the chairwoman of the one of the commission sessions which discussed spousal abuse, the Equal Rights Amendment, sex education, lesbian mother rights, rehabilitation efforts for women, and economic discrimination.[14] She opposed the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment, but support abortion rights.[4]

In 1986, she asked for the Health and Rehabilitative Services Committee in the Florida Senate to approve legislation that would place an additional tax on cigarettes to raise money for cancer research and treatment.[15] During the 1970s she had undergone a double mastectomy for breast cancer treatment.[16]

First Lady[edit]

In 1986, Governor Bob Graham won election to the United States Senate. On January 3, 1987, he resigned from the governorship to take office in the Senate.[17] On January 3, Wayne Mixson was inaugurated as the 39th Governor of Florida by Chief Justice Parker Lee McDonald of the Florida Supreme Court while Margie Mixson held the Bible.[18][19] She served as the First Lady of Florida during her husband's three day gubernatorial tenure.[20]

Later life[edit]

After Mixson's husband left office they returned to their farm in Jackson County, Florida to raise cattle and grow peanuts, cotton, and soybeans.[21]

On July 8, 2020, Wayne Mixson died in Tallahassee, Florida, at the age of 98.[22] She died in Panama City, Florida, on December 27, 2023, at the age of 96.[23]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Partisan affiliation and education". Tallahassee Democrat. February 13, 1983. p. 74. Archived from the original on July 19, 2020. Retrieved July 19, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ "Mixson Family Roots Deep in West Florida". Pensacola News Journal. April 19, 1978. p. 5. Archived from the original on July 19, 2020. Retrieved July 19, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "William Reunion Oct. 4". Pensacola News Journal. September 26, 1975. p. 3. Archived from the original on July 19, 2020. Retrieved July 19, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ a b c d "Margie Mixson Is Quiet - But Don't Let That Fool You". The Miami Herald. January 2, 1979. p. 92. Archived from the original on July 19, 2020. Retrieved July 19, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Miss Grace Weds John W. Mixon In Graceville". Pensacola News Journal. January 1, 1948. p. 6. Archived from the original on July 10, 2020. Retrieved July 19, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Margie Mixson Master's degree". Pensacola News Journal. September 27, 1978. p. 33. Archived from the original on July 19, 2020. Retrieved July 19, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "West Florida Students Selected for Clubs". Pensacola News Journal. November 21, 1947. p. 6. Archived from the original on July 19, 2020. Retrieved July 19, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Graduation". Pensacola News Journal. June 7, 1948. p. 8. Archived from the original on July 19, 2020. Retrieved July 19, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Students in Jackson County Will Start Classes Sept. 4". The Dothan Eagle. August 27, 1950. p. 6. Archived from the original on July 19, 2020. Retrieved July 19, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "High School Faculty Listed At Graceville". Panama City News-Herald. August 28, 1954. p. 9. Archived from the original on July 19, 2020. Retrieved July 19, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Reluctant Wife Becomes Valuable Campaigner". Pensacola News Journal. November 12, 1978. p. 7. Archived from the original on July 19, 2020. Retrieved July 19, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Thirty years". The Pensacola News. June 25, 1979. p. 1. Archived from the original on July 19, 2020. Retrieved July 19, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "Lee woman joins governor's commission". News-Press. August 22, 1979. p. 16. Archived from the original on July 19, 2020. Retrieved July 19, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ "Commission receives a real earful on issues close to women's hearts". The Orlando Sentinel. December 9, 1979. p. 24. Archived from the original on July 19, 2020. Retrieved July 19, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ "Cigarette tax urged". Tallahassee Democrat. May 1, 1986. p. 6. Archived from the original on July 19, 2020. Retrieved July 19, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ "Report: Insurance should pay for mammograms". Tallahassee Democrat. January 11, 1995. p. 13. Archived from the original on July 19, 2020. Retrieved July 19, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ "Castor". The Tampa Tribune. January 1, 1987. p. 30. Archived from the original on July 17, 2020. Retrieved July 19, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ "Wayne Mixson becomes shortest-term governor". Florida Today. January 4, 1987. p. 24. Archived from the original on July 17, 2020. Retrieved July 19, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ "Inauguration". Tallahassee Democrat. January 4, 1987. p. 2. Archived from the original on July 19, 2020. Retrieved July 19, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ^ "First ladies evening". Tallahassee Democrat. March 17, 1999. p. 26. Archived from the original on July 19, 2020. Retrieved July 19, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ^ "What ever happened to..." The Orlando Sentinel. April 28, 1991. p. 188. Archived from the original on July 19, 2020. Retrieved July 19, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. ^ "Former Florida governor Wayne Mixson dies". Tallahassee Democrat. December 30, 2023. Archived from the original on April 27, 2024.
  23. ^ "Margalena "Margie" Grace Mixson". Tallahassee Democrat. December 30, 2023. Archived from the original on April 27, 2024.
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