Florence Pendleton, historic ‘shadow’ senator, dies in Columbus at 94
She was born and died in Columbus. In between, she made national history.
Florence Pendleton, one of the first two “shadow senators” to represent Washington, D.C., as a nonvoting member of the U.S. Senate, died peacefully Sept. 10 in her Columbus home, according to Progressive Funeral Home.
She was 94.
Visitation at the funeral home will start Sept. 15 at 1 p.m., followed by family hour at 4 p.m. The funeral will be Sept. 16 at 2 p.m. in Green Acres Cemetery.
Pendleton graduated from Spencer High School of Columbus in 1940, then earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Howard University. That took her to D.C. for most of her adult life before returning home to Columbus in her later years.
After she retired from more than 40 years as an administrator in the District of Columbia School System, Pendleton and the Rev. Jesse Jackson were elected to their Senate seats in 1990. She served in Congress for 17 years.
“She was really a pioneer in so many ways,” Paul Strauss, a current shadow senator for D.C., told RollCall.com.
Pendleton got involved in D.C. politics by serving as a commissioner on the Bloomingdale neighborhood advisory board and as president of the Bloomingdale Civic Association, according to RollCall.com.
Strauss called her a champion of D.C. statehood and rights for the city and its residents.
“She was very committed,” he told RollCall.com. “She never got discouraged.”
The flags at the Wilson Building and One Judiciary Square, housing D.C. municipal offices, will be flown at half staff in her honor, Strauss told Pendleton’s daughter-in-law, retired Reese Road Leadership Academy principal Jeanellla Pendella, in a text message.
This story was originally published September 15, 2020 at 12:10 PM.
