Former Speaker of the House, state senator and Florida State University President John Thrasher died May 30 at 81.
Born Dec. 18, 1943, in South Carolina, Thrasher grew up in Jacksonville and received a bachelor’s degree in business from Florida State University in 1965.
After college, he joined the U.S. Army, serving first in Germany and later in Vietnam, where he was awarded two Bronze Stars. He was honorably discharged in 1970 with the rank of captain.
He returned to Tallahassee and received a law degree from the FSU College of Law in 1972.
Thrasher began his political career when he was elected to the Clay County School Board in 1986.
He was elected to the state House of Representatives in 1992 and reelected without opposition in 1994, 1996 and 1998. He was speaker of the House 1999-2000.
In 2009, he was elected to the state Senate in a special election to represent the 8th District, which included parts of Duval, Flagler, Nassau, St. Johns and Volusia counties.
After redistricting in 2012, he represented the 6th District, which included all of St. Johns, Flagler and Putnam, as well as parts of Volusia County.
In September 2009, Thrasher won the special Republican primary election to succeed the late Sen. Jim King and then won the general election in October.
Thrasher won the 2010 Republican primary and then won the November general election.
He was a member of the Senate until 2014 when the board of trustees of FSU appointed Thrasher to become the university’s 15th president. He was formally confirmed to the position in March 2015 and was in office until August 2021.
Thrasher was married to his wife, Jean, for 60 years. They had three children and eight grandchildren.