TAMPA, Fla. — The first Black woman elected to serve on the board for Hillsborough County Public Schools has died, 10 Investigates confirms.
Doris Ross Reddick was also the first Black woman to serve as board chair. She was 97 years old. She died earlier this week from complications of pneumonia, daughter Clemmie Perry said.
"We would like to thank our friends, family, hospice care and Annie's Assisted Living for the care, love and support of our Mother during the last year," Reddick's family said in a statement. "We are grateful for her extraordinary life and the many lives she touched in the Tampa Bay Community."
Reddick was a long-time educator, working in Hillsborough County Schools for decades as a teacher and assistant principal. Her leadership also helped ease the district through desegregation.
Hillsborough County Superintendent Van Ayres said in a statement: “Ms. Doris Ross Reddick dedicated her entire life to helping others, especially in the area of education. She nurtured students in our community as a teacher, supervisor, and curriculum specialist from 1948 until her retirement in 1980.
"She was elected to the Hillsborough County School Board from 1992 until 2004. Ms. Reddick was the first black woman elected to the Board and was Chair of the Board in both 1995 and 2001. We are honored to have Doris Ross Reddick Elementary School, which opened in 2008, as a tribute to her lifetime passion for education and students in our community."
In 2021, Reddick spoke at her namesake school for her 94th birthday, offering an encouraging message to those following in her footsteps.
"What advice would I give to young women today? Look at what the needs are and throw yourself in there with the needs...and assist in what you think they should be to make young women a part of what's going on," she said at the time.
Reddick was also often called on to share memories of attending Dr. Martin Luther King’s 1961 speech in Tampa.
"Martin Luther King? Oh boy, we definitely wouldn't have missed that,” Reddick told 10 Tampa Bay in 2022.
Her family says the viewing for Reddick will be from 3-8 p.m. on Wednesday, May 1, at Wilson Funeral Home in Tampa.
The service will take place at 11 a.m. on Thursday, May 2, at Hyde Park United Methodist Church.
To learn more about Reddick’s history-making career and contributions to the Tampa Bay community, visit: https://www.dorisrossreddick.com
CORRECTION: The video that appears in this story has been re-edited to remove a photo that misidentified Doris Ross Reddick. 10 Tampa Bay apologies for the error.