Paxety Pages

Tillie, a Republican,  moved to Florida, served as President of Jacksonville's City Council in the 80's, and when Charlie Bennett decided to retire in 1992, she ran for Congress.  Bennet, a Democrat,  had served since World War II.

I moved back to the area in 1992 just as she was cranking up her campaign. I didn't know her by her married name, so her campaign commercials caught me by surprise.  One said that Tillie had grown up working in her father's drug store - I looked at the photograph and recognized the store.

Tillie was the daughter of Culver Kidd, a pharmacist who served in the Georgia General Assembly from 1947-52, then from 1957-93.  She came by her political instincts honestly.

Tillie won her seat in 1992 and helped Newt Gingrich put together the Republican revolution and Contract with America in 1994.  She served on the House Armed Services Committee and worked tirelessly for the military.  She was an advocate for term limits, promised to serve only four terms, and in 2000, she retired. She continued her work for the military, particularly the Navy.

She was in town one day about 10-years ago - I was working for WJKS-TV at the time.  We had some question on military affairs we wanted her to answer, and we were short of reporters,so we sent one of the photographers over to her office.  One of our anchors had written the question out on a sheet of paper and given it to the photographer.  He came back with the tape, and I popped it into a player.

It began with Rep. Fowler sitting calmly in a chair as the photographer fiddled with focus, audio levels, etc. Then the photographer began to try to read the question to her (he didn't read very well). After several stumbling attempts,  he gave up and just handed her the piece of paper.  She read the question, put the paper down in her lap, looked directly at the camera and answered. How she kept a straight face, I don't know, but she was a pro.

Tillie was rushed to the hospital yesterday suffering from a brain hemorrhage.  She died today at age 62.  I don't think much of many politicians, but I thought rather highly of her.