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ONYX Salutes Daisy Lynum
Commissioner Daisy Williams Lynum was elected to the Orlando City Council on April 14, 1998. Commissioner Lynum was born in Leesburg, Fla., a small town 45 miles northwest of Orlando. She was one of eight children and was the proud mother of two sons and three granddaughters.
Commissioner Lynum became a Christian at age 12 and was a faithful member of New Covenant Baptist Church of Orlando. After graduating from Carver Heights High School in 1964, Lynum earned an undergraduate degree in Sociology at Bethune-Cookman College and a graduate degree in Clinical Social Work (MSW) from Florida State University. As a Rockefeller Foundation Scholar recipient, she completed post baccalaureate studies at Haverford and Bryn Mawr Colleges in Pennsylvania, and her teaching certification was completed at the University of Central Florida. In 2000, Lynum completed the John F. Kennedy School of Government Program for Executives at Harvard University. Florida Metropolitan University awarded Lynum the Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters in May 2005. Lynum was inducted into the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., in 1966 because of its academic and community service requirements. She was also inducted into Gamma Phi Delta Sorority, Inc., Xi Beta Chapter, an organization of business and professional women, in December 2008.
Lynum began her professional career, first as a fifth grade teacher, followed by a career as a social worker and administrator for the Department of Health & Rehabilitative Services, and a Special Services Social Worker for Orange County Public Schools. Simultaneously, her years of community and civic involvement have included numerous organizations, boards, committees and task groups such as: Florida League of Cities Urban Administration Resolution, and Policy Committees; Board of Directors for the National League of Cities; Vice Chair BBIF Board of Directors; President of the National League of Cities Women In Municipal Government; President of the National Black Caucus of Local Elected Officials and President of the National Black Caucus of Local Elected Officials Foundation Board; President of the Florida Black Caucus of Local Elected Officials; African American Women’s Technology Caucus; Elected Chairman of MetroPlan Orlando Transportation Board, a Tri-County Regional Transportation Board of Elected Officials and elected Secretary of the Central Florida Metropolitan Planning Organization Alliance for 2014; Orange County Voter’s League; Life Member NAACP; served on the Nemours Council.
In 2005, the ONYX Magazine Poll named Commissioner Lynum as one of 56 most influential African Americans in the State of Florida. Internationally, Lynum has represented Orlando and our country in Japan, Africa, and China and participated in the US-China Exchange Association’s US Business Matchmaking Conference in 2006, 2007 and 2008.
She enjoyed traveling and has visited many Caribbean and European countries as a tourist for over 35 years. Her hobbies were reading, traveling, and gardening. Lynum retired from the Orlando City Council in 2014, after serving 4 successful terms. In her retirement, she remained involved in all aspects of community, professional and political service. Commissioner Lynum departed this life on Thursday, October 8, 2020, with members of her family at her bedside. She is deeply mourned by her two sons, Sean (Mercedes) and Juan, three grandchildren, Daniela, Ellesse and Lily, her brother, MacArthur Williams, sisters, Joan Reese, Shirley Sharpe-Terrell, and Minnie Adams (Lawrence), and numerous nephews and nieces, with a special bond with her niece, Barbara McCullough, and a host of other relatives and friends.
