Brogan, law student marry in Irish church

© St. Petersburg Times
published December 17, 2002

TALLAHASSEE -- Lt. Gov. Frank Brogan and law student Courtney Strickland were married Saturday while vacationing with friends and family in County Clare, Ireland.

It is the second marriage for Brogan, 49, and the first for Strickland, 26, a law student at Florida State University. Brogan's first wife, Mary, died of cancer in 1999.

Brogan announced the engagement on election night, Nov. 5, in Miami as he and Gov. Jeb Bush won a second term.

Bush issued a statement Monday congratulating the couple.

"Columba and I extend our warmest congratulations to Frank and Courtney," Bush said. "Along with so many of their Florida friends, we wish the Brogans a lifetime of happiness and all the blessings of embracing the future together."

Aides said the Brogans were married in a small private ceremony at the Little Church at Six Mile Bridge in Cratloe, Ireland.

The reception was at nearby Dromoland Castle, which Brogan has previously visited. The couple plans to honeymoon in Jamaica.

Brogan will return from vacation in time for a Jan. 7 inaugural celebration, but is expected to resign shortly thereafter to become president of Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton.

Friends say the president's job, expected to pay around $500,000, would give Brogan a chance to focus on long-term security for his family. It would let him maximize his retirement income at a level much higher than his current $117,990 salary.

Brogan had been viewed as a likely candidate for governor when Bush's second term expires in 2006, but has reportedly decided to take a different path and return to South Florida.

He was a teacher, principal and school superintendent in Martin County before he ran for state education commissioner in 1994.

Bush will have to select a new lieutenant governor. That has prompted speculation that he may select a woman or a minority.

Names surfacing in Tallahassee political circles include Orlando Mayor Glenda Hood; Lottery Director David Griffin; former Public Service Commission member Julia Johnson; and Mel Martinez, former Orange County manager and now head of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

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