Randy Christmas | |
|---|---|
| 28th Mayor of Miami | |
| In office 1955–1957 | |
| Preceded by | Abe Aronovitz |
| Succeeded by | Robert King High |
| Personal details | |
| Born | October 14, 1920 Ocilla, Georgia, U.S. |
| Died | July 27, 1969 (aged 48) Miami, Florida, U.S. |
| Occupation | Attorney, politician |
Randall Norton Christmas (October 14, 1920 – July 27, 1969) was the 28th Mayor of Miami from 1955 to 1957.[1][2] He had previously served on the Miami City Commission from 1953 to 1955.
Christmas was born on October 14, 1920, in Ocilla, Georgia, In 1926, the Christmas family relocated to Miami. The sixth of seven siblings, Christmas began working as a young boy delivering the Miami Herald.
He attended Edison High School, where he graduated in 1938. Christmas served with the U.S. Marine Corps VMB443 in a B-25 bomber in the Pacific Theater during World War II, where he met and became acquainted with George Smathers, later a U.S. Senator from Florida. As a student at the University of Miami in 1948, he became a charter member of the Beta Delta chapter of Phi Kappa Tau fraternity. In 1951, Randall graduated from the University of Miami School of Law.
Christmas served in a time of tremendous change and phenomenal growth for Miami highlighted by the creation and transition to Miami-Dade County, a municipal entity incorporating the City of Miami and several of the smaller municipalities in the wider Miami metropolitan area. Christmas was the first mayor to serve from what are still the current offices of the City of Miami municipal government.
In 1956, he appeared in the beginning of the movie Miami Exposé. He later served as an Assistant State's Attorney from 1960 to 1964, and then as an attorney private practice until his death.
He is interred at Southern Memorial Cemetery in North Miami Beach, Florida. Merrie Christmas Park in the Coconut Grove section of Miami is named for Christmas' daughter, Merrie, who died at age 15 in 1969.