Grandma wearing some FIERCE gowns!

So, a little history... my maternal grandfather was Mayor of Jacksonville in the 1950's, and for a couple of years, Governor of Florida in the 1960's. These photos of Grandma were of her wearing the different gowns she wore to different inaugural balls. She looks so beautiful in these gowns, and I'm glad that we have these photos. Somewhere there's a photo of Mom in her gown, but it's not in these batch of pictures. We do have a lot of family photos that need to be scanned in, including more of Papa's political career.









Haydon Burns was my grandfather. His political career was all before my time, so I don't know much about it. I know he negotiated with Walt Disney to bring DisneyWorld to FL. I've heard that he cleaned up some seedy areas of downtown Jax and made them business or government buildings. I'm sure he was loved by some and hated by others. It was long ago. One of the things I remember about Papa is how he knew everybody's name. When my brothers and I were kids, and we were out with Grandma and Papa for dinner, people would approach the table, and often Papa knew their names, when they met, etc... even if it had been twenty years ago. 

I was always close with Grandma as a kid and teen-ager. She had a stroke when I was 16-17, and while she survived that, she wasn't the same. She passed away in 2000. She had always wanted to live to see the year 2000, and she did. Grandma was a special, wonder-full lady and I still miss her! 


 

Comments

  1. Thank you for sharing these, and your stories. She looks like a literal doll in those perfect satin gowns against the backdrop of the wallpaper!

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