A New Era in Luxury Senior Living Is Here

FIND watermarkcoralgables.com | 786-437-0192 363 Granello Avenue, Coral Gables, FL 33146

Now open! Call 786-437-0192 to reserve INDEPENDENT LIVING ASSISTED LIVING MEMORY CARE wasn’t holding elected office. She served in other ways. She headed to Tallahassee, working in Emergency Management and the Department of Transportation, seeing another side of the political fence, commuting home on the weekends. In retrospect, she says she should’ve stayed in the Gables during those years, but she gained even more experience and brought back new ideas, including a concept borrowed from the League of Cities about launching foundations to augment a city’s community support. From that spark, the Coral Gables Community Foundation was born.

You’ve been looking for a place where you can enjoy an elevated lifestyle designed around what matters to you. A community filled with gourmet cuisine, spa days, and exciting excursions around town. A destination that makes it easy to develop lasting friendships and truly thrive in an idyllic setting.

She waited six years to run again, and then won big, winning all precincts, going on to serve on the Commission for another eight years as vice mayor.

June describes her mother as having a mind like a “steel vault,” but that she never holds a grudge, remaining friends even with people who supported her opponents. “Something I think is unusual and pretty great is that my mother has stayed involved in the city after being in office,” says June. “Some never show their face again after their term ends, [but] she loves Coral Gables.”

After leaving office in 2001, Dorothy stayed involved on city committees and with community organizations, including the Coral Gables chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. For the city, she served on the Historic Preservation Board for many years and chaired the Parking Advisory Committee. As Valdés-Fauli sums it up: She’s a “wonderful activist, with her heart in the right place.”

In 2008, she also found the time and energy to complete a very important personal goal, one interrupted by motherhood almost 50 years earlier. Heading back to college, Dorothy finished her degree, graduating cum laude from the University of Miami.

Her commitment to the city continues to this day. She watches every Commission meeting on cable and will text Commissioners directly if she feels they need additional perspective, facts, or background.

Commissioner Kirk Menendez, who was elected in 2021, benefits from those texts and finds Dorothy’s input welcoming and needed. “We have a 24/7 open line of communication,” he says, adding that he reaches out to her more than she does to him and appreciates that someone with her stature and experience is watching and following every word of the Commission meetings. “Her advice is always on point,” he says. “She’s up-to-date on all the issues and she sees things from multiple angles.”

Taking great pride in her family ancestry and the importance of legacy is evident throughout Dorothy’s life. She instilled those lessons in her children, about the importance of having a voice and what democracy needs in order to work. An example for her children and others, she showed “you can do great things if you really work hard,” says June. “She taught us not to be ruled by the fear of failure and have the guts to go against the flow. When she walked through the door, she was there to get things done.”

Being Mayor was the “pinnacle of what I always wanted to do,” says Dorothy. And then she smiles and laughs, “I wanted sidewalks and got the throne.” Says Commissioner Menendez, “She helps me find the strength I need sometimes, and I am blessed to call her my friend. Quite honestly, if the city had a Mount Rushmore, Dorothy Thomson would be on top.” ■

“ BEING MAYOR WAS THE PINNACLE OF WHAT I ALWAYS WANTED TO DO... I WANTED SIDEWALKS AND GOT THE THRONE.”

DOROTHY THOMSON, ABOVE CENTER, WITH HER FAMILY IN 2017, CELEBRATING HER LATE HUSBAND JACK’S 85TH BIRTHDAY. UPPER RIGHT IS HER CHILD CAMPAIGNER, JUNE THOMSON MORRIS

Dorothy Thomson has donated her private collection of campaign materials and mementos from her time in office to the Coral Gables Museum, which has put together a curated exhibit of her memorabilia and an exhibition catalogue. The exhibit will be on display through August 13, 2023.