Florence Shapiro was a first-generation American born in 1948 to two Holocaust survivors in New York City. The family moved to Dallas, Texas and she graduated from Hillcrest High School. Florence and her husband, Howard, came to Plano in 1972. Before her time in politics, she founded the Plano Service League. It is now known as the Junior League of Collin County. Florence served for six terms on the Plano City Council from 1979-1990. She was the first female Mayor of Plano from 1990-1992. Next, Florence was elected to the Texas Senate in 1992. In 2005, she was elected President pro tempore, which would be second in the gubernatorial line of succession behind the Lieutenant Governor. On April 9, 2005, while both Gov. Rick Perry and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst were out of state, she served as Governor for the day. This was the sixth woman in Texas history to do so. She retired in 2011. She remains active in the community. She serves on several boards – Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum, AT&T Performing Arts Center, and Children’s Medical Center and UT Southwestern Medical Center. Information was gathered from Plano Profile, November 23, 2016 written by Brit Mott and Wikipedia.
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