Flags at half-staff for Freddie Warmack, Newberry’s first black mayor

Gov. Ron DeSantis has ordered flags at half-staff to honor the first black mayor of Newberry in Alachua County. 

Freddie L. Warmack died earlier this month.

“As a symbol of respect for the memory of Mayor Warmack and his service to Florida, I hereby direct the flags of the United States and the State of Florida to be flown at half-staff at the Alachua County Courthouse in Gainesville, the City Hall of Newberry, and at the Capitol in Tallahassee, from sunrise to sunset on Saturday, April 13,” DeSantis said in a statement.

Warmack was first elected to the Newberry City Commission in 1974, serving as a commissioner for 10 years, according to a statement from the Governor’s Office.

In 1984, he became Newberry’s first African-American mayor, and served in that capacity for another 10 years.