Melvin J. Richard

Melvin J. Richard came to Miami Beach in 1926 at age 14 and first worked digging ditches for the young city’s water pipes at 35 cents an hour. In 1934, at age 22, he became the sixth attorney in the city, and in 1941, at age 29, he became City Judge. Elected to the City Council on June 7, 1949, he held that post for 16 years, and on June 4, 1963, he was elected Mayor of Miami Beach. He was known for uncompromising honesty and yielded to the control of no man or woman except his wife, Janet. He fought successfully to keep the beaches open to the public, to keep organized crime at bay, to keep Lincoln Road a pedestrian thoroughfare, and for many other causes. He died on February 12, 2001, at age 89, still practicing law and still speaking out publicly for causes in which he believed. During those years, he left the city and his family only once, from 1943 to 1946, to serve as a decorated naval officer in the European Theater of World War II.

Miami Beach, Florida · United States