George Edgecomb

George Edgecomb

A tribute to his courage and integrity

By David R. Corder

Associate Editor

It has been 28 years since the death of Judge George E. Edgecomb. It is more than just apparent today his memory lives in the hearts and minds of those who loved and respected the man who became Hillsborough County's first black circuit judge. Those admirers took a moment recently to celebrate that his accomplishments would live in perpetuity.

Wife, Doretha, and daughter, Allison, joined about 170 guests on Jan. 29 to officially dedicate the George E. Edgecomb Courthouse as the new home of the 13th Judicial Circuit. Many of Tampa's legal and political elite joined the Edgecomb family to unveil three bronze plaques that commemorate the completion of the $42.9 million, 332,000-square-foot judicial building.

The plaque that commemorates the late judge bears the words his wife spoke at an Aug. 13, 2003, judiciary ceremony in his honor. "George E. Edgecomb would have been immensely grateful and humbled by the show of appreciation and admiration for his life and his work. But even more, he would want this day and this building to be a reminder to all the young people throughout this community, how important it is to dream and how important it is to be courageous and try."

Speaking for the family, Allison expressed gratitude for the public display of remembrance. "My family continues to be humbled by the great many ways you remember him," she said, adding not so much because he was the county's first black judge, but "because he was simply my daddy."

At the lead of Chief Judge Manuel Menendez, the audience granted Allison a standing ovation.

When he spoke, Menendez cited the efforts of Tampa attorney Dennis Alvarez, a former chief judge, for making the public aware of the space problems in the old county courthouse. He lauded Hillsborough County Commissioner Jan Platt, one of five commissioners in attendance, for making the motion on the 7-0 vote that approved the funding for the new building.

"We thank you for the honor to work in a place that bears (Edgecomb's) name," he said.

In his typical dry humor, the chief judge also gently chided representatives of the architects and contractors who designed and built it. "We do have a little punch list of things to get taken care of," he said. He mentioned, for instance, he spent a little time in a building stairwell when a key card failed.

County Administrator Pat Bean recognized the work of the building architect, Tampa-based Ranon & Partners Inc.; and the general contractor, Bethesda, Md.-based Clark Construction Group. She also cited the groundwork undertaken by Mike Kelly and his staff in the county real estate department.

On a more serious note, however, Platt issued a challenge in Edgecomb's memory. She reminded the guests there now is only one building in Tampa that bears the name of a black man. "That's a hint," she said.

Commissioner Pat Frank then spoke about the evening of Edgecomb's death on Jan. 22, 1976, at his Tampa home. She recalls how everyone there asked why God took him at the young age of 33. "God took George because he needed his counsel," she said.