JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Dozens of family and friends gathered to remember former Florida lawmaker Betty Holzendorf during a memorial service ahead of her funeral on Monday.
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Many people who spoke about Holzendorf said she was always willing to help anyone with a problem and always spoke her mind.
“We shared our mom with this whole community,” her son Kevin Holzendorf said.
Holzendorf was part of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority and they held a special tribute to her.
She was a wife, mother, grandmother, and public servant before she died at the age of 84.
Her start with government work began in the 1970s when she worked in the office of Jacksonville Mayor Jake Godbold.
She served in the Florida House from 1988 to 1992, and then in the Florida Senate from 1992-2002.
She also ran for mayor of Jacksonville in 2003 but lost.
Former city council member and close friend Pat Lockett-Felder said former Senator Holzendorf will be missed.
“I’m going to miss her most because I would call her sometimes at 12, one in the morning. She never turned me down. She always said ‘What’s going on?’ What can I help you do?’” Lockett-Felder said.
She said the two knew each other since they were young and she described her as someone who was loving, God-fearing, and wanted the best for others.
“That’s why you see a cross-section of people here today because Betty has always been a fighter for all the people. It mattered not to her if you were black or white, Betty wanted what was good for this city,” Lockett-Felder said.
People who loved Holzendorf said she was always willing to help others learn, so it was only fitting that she had a street named after her at the University of North Florida.
“I got a lot of education from Betty. She would teach me how to get in to do this and how to do that,” Lockett-Felder said.
During Sunday’s memorial, in addition to singing, it was also a chance for people to tell their favorite stories about the former lawmaker.
Lockett-Felder said Holzendorf was a great cook.
“I say her best dish was she would always cook collard greens and then she would cook chicken and rice,” Lockett-Felder said.
They’re dishes she won’t be able to eat from her longtime friend anymore, but she said if she ever wants to talk to her, she’ll just look to the sky because she knows she’s up in heaven.
“We’re really going to miss her,” Lockett-Felder said.
The Northside Sarah L. Carter’s funeral home will be streaming the funeral on its Facebook page Monday at 11:00 a.m.
Flags at the Duval County Courthouse, Jacksonville City Hall, and the State Capitol building in Tallahassee will be flown at half-staff to honor Holzendorf.