Adele Khoury Graham
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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 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, assuming the position ...
from 1979 to 1987. She was the wife of the 38th
Governor of Florida The governor of Florida is the head of government of the U.S. state of Florida. The Governor (United States), governor is the head of the Government of Florida#Executive branch, executive branch of the government of Florida and is the comman ...
and former
United States Senator The United States Senate consists of 100 members, two from each of the 50 U.S. state, states. This list includes all senators serving in the 119th United States Congress. Party affiliation Independent Senators Angus King of Maine and Berni ...
Bob Graham Daniel Robert Graham (November 9, 1936 – April 16, 2024) was an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as the 38th List of governors of Florida, governor of Florida from 1979 to 1987 and a United States Senate, United States senat ...
. Adele Graham was the First Lady of the state of
Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
from 1979 to 1987. She spent her career as public school teacher in
Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
and
Miami, Florida Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
. 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 ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...
, 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 he 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 (singer), a member of the Filipino Pinoy pop group Bini * ''Gwen, or the Book of Sand'', a 1985 animated film * Gwen (film), a 2018 horror film * Tropical Storm ...
, was born in 1963. Cissy followed in 1964. At this time, Adele Graham 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, Graham'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, Graham 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%. 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. Graham 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, Graham 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. Graham 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 named "A Woman of Impact" in Greater Miami, and the University of Florida honored her as an "Alumna of Outstanding Achievement."


Education

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 a ...
. She 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 Maronites (; ) are a Syriac Christian ethnoreligious group native to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant (particularly Lebanon) whose members belong to the Maronite Church. The largest concentration has traditionally resided near Mount ...
from
Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...
,
Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...
.


References


External links


List of the First Ladies of Florida

FL Governor's website

Info about Adele Graham

Adele 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