Randy Christmas

Randall Norton Christmas was an American politician and attorney who served as the 28th mayor of Miami from 1955 to 1957.

Early life and education

Christmas was born on October 14, 1920, in Ocilla, Georgia, In 1926, the Christmas family relocated to Miami. The sixth of seven siblings, Christmas began working as a young boy delivering the Miami Herald.
He attended Edison High School, where he graduated in 1938. Christmas served with the U.S. Marine Corps VMB443 in a B-25 bomber in the Pacific Theater during World War II, where he met and became acquainted with George Smathers, later a U.S. Senator from Florida. As a student at the University of Miami in 1948, he became a charter member of the Beta Delta chapter of Phi Kappa Tau fraternity. In 1951, Randall graduated from the University of Miami School of Law.

Career

Christmas served on the Miami City Commission from 1953 to 1955.
Christmas served as mayor from 1955 to 1957, having been elected in 1955. He was the first to hold Miami's current office of mayor. In 1956, he appeared in the beginning of the movie Miami Exposé.
Christmas later served as an Assistant State's Attorney from 1960 to 1964, and then as an attorney private practice until his death.

Death

Christmas died July 27, 1969.
He is interred at Southern Memorial Cemetery in North Miami Beach, Florida. Merrie Christmas Park in the Coconut Grove section of Miami is named for Christmas' daughter, Merrie, who died at age 15 in 1969.