Ex-lawmaker, civic activist Sample leaves legacy of nice

ST. PETERSBURG -- When Dorothy E. Sample showed up in Tallahassee to begin her freshman year in the House of Representatives, she took aim at mean auto inspectors. She wanted to pass a law that required them to be nice.

The "pleasant disposition" bill, as Mrs. Sample called it, was just one of about two dozen measures she prefiled before the Legislature met in 1977.

Her proposals hit hard at the "nuts and bolts issues" she said voters had told her about, and she conceded that some of her ideas were somewhat unusual. But she said: "You know I'm almost indifferent to controversy."

Mrs. Sample, a civic activist and longtime conservationist who served in the Legislature for a dozen years, died Sunday (Sept. 1, 2002) at the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa. She was 91.

"Dorothy Sample was a very unique individual," U.S. Rep. C.W. Bill Young, the Largo Republican who also served in the Legislature, said Tuesday. "There was never any question about where she stood on any given issue. This created for me a tremendous feeling of respect. She was personally honest, not just politically honest.

"She and I worked together on a lot of projects in Pinellas," Young recalled. "I knew her before she ran for public office. I guess you would call her an activist. I was in the state Senate when I first met her. She would come to me with issues -- people issues."

Another fellow Republican, state Sen. Jim Sebesta of St. Petersburg, called her death "the loss of an icon. She has been around for as long as I can remember. When I ran for the Senate in 1998 she was one of the first to call and wish me well."

She also occasionally called him during the session, he said.

"I will miss her as a mentor," Sebesta said. "She was a great leader for Pinellas County."

Mrs. Sample was noted for her sensitivity to protecting Florida's environment.

She was a founder of the Alliance for Conservation of Natural Resources, a past president of Save Our Bays and a vice president and regional director of the Florida Wildlife Federation.

Mrs. Sample was a recipient of the Outstanding Conservationist Award of the Rod and Gun Club and the Florida Wildlife Special Service Award.

As a member of the Florida State Children's Commission, she helped write regulations for the county License Board for Children's Centers and Family Day Care Homes.

Dorothy Eaton Sample was born in Nyack, N.Y., and came here in 1948 from Nashville. She was a graduate of Duke University, with a degree in economics, and the Duke Law School. She was licensed to practice in North Carolina.

Locally, she taught in Pinellas County schools and worked in real estate and as a legal secretary. She also had been a department manager of an auto finance company and a law clerk.

She ran unsuccessfully for the Legislature and the School Board before winning the House seat that made her politically prominent.

When she sought re-election in 1982 to a fourth term, the St. Petersburg Times said she was more in touch with the people in her district and more experienced that her opponent.

And the newspaper noted editorially that in her three terms she had been "hard working and conscientious in serving her constituents."

In 1988, she was defeated by Lars Hafner, a 27-year-old Democrat who also had unsuccessfully challenged her in 1986. She tried without success in 1990 to win back her seat.

In her last bid for public office, she unsuccessfully sought a seat on the St. Petersburg City Council in 1995.

She was listed in the first edition of Who's Who and Why of Successful Florida Women. She was listed in Who's Who of American Women and Who's Who in the South & Southwest.

Her husband, Richard L., who died in 1985, was a member of a pioneer family and a local real estate appraiser and banker.

Survivors include a son, Richard, Tampa; two daughters, Dorothy Jane Adams, Lakeland, and Dianne Sample Hocamp, Wilmington, N.C.; a brother, Ted Eaton, and a sister, Mary Eaton, both of Boston; five grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.

Friends may call from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday at David C. Gross Funeral Home, 6366 Central Ave. A funeral will be at 11 a.m. Friday in the Goodwin Chapel of Pasadena Community Church, 112 70th St. S, where she was a member. Burial will be in Fort Pierce.

The family suggests memorial contributions to the Retired Officers Club of St. Petersburg, P.O. Box 7054, St. Petersburg, FL 33734, or the Salvation Army.

-- Information from Times files was used in this obituary.

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