Pope, Verle Allyn, 1903-1973

Businessman and state legislator.

Born in Jacksonville; moved to St. Augustine in 1908. Educated in St. Augustine schools, attended the University of Florida, and was in the real estate business. Served in the Florida Senate from 1949 to 1972.

Born on December 12, 1903, in Jacksonville, Florida, Verle Allyn Pope became a leader in Florida politics, serving his constituents for thirty-eight years in both the Florida State House of Representatives and the State Senate.

As a boy, Pope moved around Florida with his family several times before ending up in St. Augustine. At the age of 14, he lost interest in school, deciding to drop out and fake his way into the U.S. Army. When his age was discovered, Pope returned home and finished high school, enrolling the following year at the University of Florida where he hoped to distinguish himself as a football player. A severe knee injury sidelined Pope early in his college career, and eventually forced him to return home without having completed a degree. Back home in St. Augustine, Pope performed a number of odd jobs until he joined the U.S. Air Corps in 1928.

In a secret elopement ceremony in 1933, Pope wed noted Florida novelist, Edith Taylor Pope. The following year, he entered politics for the first time, running for the St. Augustine County Commission. Beating the incumbent commissioner by 26 votes, Pope experienced his first political triumph. His efforts as commissioner attracted the attention of Governor Spessard Holland, who appointed Pope to the District Welfare Board. In 1942, Pope ran for a seat in the Florida State House of Representatives. Though he won the seat, Pope resigned soon thereafter to enter the armed services again during World War II. In 1944, he was transferred to England, where he served as an intelligence officer and as an aerial observer. Returning home in December 1945, Pope had earned a number of medals, including an Air Medal and a Croix de Guerre.

In 1948, he resumed his political career, running for a seat in Florida State Senate. His campaign proved successful, and Pope embarked on a Senate career that would last until his retirement in 1972. Along the way, he oversaw important legislation regarding education, taxation, and regional issues related to his district. Forging a good working relationship with the press, Pope was dubbed the "Lion of St. John" for his oratorical style and bravado. On several occasions, Pope found himself at odds with the "Pork Chop Gang," a voting bloc of 20 conservative North Florida lawmakers who upheld the interests of rural North Florida and who supported segregation policies. Pope, despite coming from a rural district, frequently opposed the Pork Choppers, especially on the issue of reapportionment, a plan to redistrict Florida in order to give more power to urban voters. He eventually saw reapportionment implemented in 1967, the same year he became president of the Florida State Senate. It was one of his two biggest political victories; the other, according to Pope himself, was the creation of the junior college system. Pope also was a long-time advocate for the rights of the deaf and blind; both his parents were deaf and were graduates of the School for the Deaf and Blind in St. Augustine.

Pope retired from public office in 1972 and died on July 18, 1973.