Former Miami Beach Mayor Seymour Gelber Dies At 99

MIAMI BEACH, FL -- He didn't quite make his 100th birthday but former Miami Beach Mayor and retired Miami-Dade Judge Seymour Gelber lived to see something much more meaningful, swearing in his son as mayor of the urban resort island they both loved and where he spent 70 years of his very full life. The elder Gelber passed away Thursday afternoon at age 99, according to his son, the current mayor.

"When it comes to dads, I won the lottery," Mayor Dan Gelber said of his father. "From any angle, and for every moment, my dad never disappointed. He was always authentic, honest and caring, and as a role model, I will always be grateful that he lit the path so brightly for me and so many others."

The elder Gelber moved to Miami Beach after World War II, where he was a buck sergeant in the then Army Air Corp. He would serve three terms as mayor. He died in Miami Beach surrounded by his family and wouldn't have wanted it any other way by all accounts.

As a tribute to his work with children and families, Miami-Dade County named the Children’s Courthouse after Judge Seymour Gelber and his longtime friend and colleague, Judge William E. Gladstone.

“Judge Gelber was a role model, mentor and inspiration for me both as an attorney and a public servant," explained Miami Beach City Manager Jimmy Morales, who had known the elder Gelber since he was a child. "I also had the good fortune of being welcomed with open arms into his home as a friend of the family. I will always cherish the memories.”

During a 2013 video history the elder Gelber recorded for the Miami Beach Visual Memoirs Project, he talked about his first visit to the city and his happenstance introduction to the dean of the University Law School that changed his life and planted the seeds for a lifelong career in public service.

Originally from Brooklyn, his first visit to Miami Beach came on a three-day pass from the Army his immigrant mother improbably arranged when she wrote a letter to the president of the United States asking if young Gelber could attend his brother's wedding.

At the time, Gelber was assigned to a military radar school in Orlando learning about what was still a secret new technology. But his brief visit to Miami Beach left an impression that he wouldn't shake.

"I went there and I was so overwhelmed by it, just walking down Ocean Drive and seeing all those people sitting out on the verandas there," he recalled in the video history. "It looked like the wax museum but they were so happy -- and the weather was so ideal -- and it was the cleanest city I had ever seen."

He relocated during a hurricane and eventually got a job loading hotel furniture onto trucks for delivery.

"When I was later mayor, I always said to myself 'God, if this place could only be as clean as it was when the first time I saw it. But that's when I first got my first taste of Miami Beach and I decided then, 'I'd like to go back here some day' and obviously I did."

A high school dropout from Abraham Lincoln High School in Brooklyn, he took advantage of the G.I. Bill to gain admission to the University of Miami Law School after being prompted by the dean, who was trying to find more law students.

"Most people become lawyers because it's been instilled with them how important that is, and all the good they can do in the world," the elder Gelber said. "I had no idea about being a lawyer or doing any of those things."

He thought he wanted to be a social worker before that meeting with the dean and was honest about his less than stellar history in academia.

"I walked in and the dean interviewed me, and I started to tell him about my poor record as a student," the elder Gelber said, adding that the dean seemed unfazed.

"'We're looking to bring students here because the government is supporting them and if we bring you in you'll be another student and we'll have another person on our list. And that's important to me,'" the dean told him. "It was all so strange. I was a kind of innocent in the world. So, I got admitted to law school having no idea what was in store. That's how it began."

But even then, the elder Gelber said he had more to offer life. "I didn't know why because there was very little evidence of it," he confided.

Gelber admittedly struggled through law school but made the most of his opportunity and was rewarded with a life of public service.

He went on to serve as the senior aide to then Florida State Senator Joe Eaton in the Florida Senate and joined the Miami Dade State Attorney’s Office where he quickly rose to become the chief assistant to then State Attorney Richard Gerstein.

The elder Gelber left the state attorney’s office to become a professor at the University of Miami and, in 1974, was appointed to the Miami-Dade Circuit Court Bench where he served in the juvenile court division for decades often as the chief judge.

Watch a touching moment from his 99th birthday below:

Judge Gelber received numerous honors for his outstanding contributions to Florida’s criminal justice system. He didn't become mayor until retiring from the bench at age 70, when the residents of Miami Beach overwhelmingly elected him.

"Mayor Gelber’s administration saw a resurgence of art and culture, and historic preservation, and was defined by the highest ethical standards," said Miami Beach city officials. "Upon completion of his service as mayor he returned to the circuit court bench as a senior judge where he served until age 95."

Judge Gelber was also an avid writer. He published a number of articles on criminal justice along with six books, including "On Behalf of Children," that focused on the history of juvenile justice in Miami-Dade County.

On Nov. 7, 2017 at the age of 98, the elder Gelber had the once-in-a-lifetime honor of swearing in his son as mayor.

Judge Gelber was born in New York to Hyman Gelber and Rose Gelber. He was happily married for 52 years to Edith Gelber and is survived by his three children Judy Gelber, her spouse Steven Kurtzer and two children Joshua Lee and Zachary Lee, predeceased in 2000. Dan Gelber and his spouse Joan Silverstein and three children Sophie Gelber, Hannah Gelber and Max Gelber. Barbara Gelber and her spouse John Barker and three children Madeleine Barker, Claudia Barker and Benjamin Barker.

In lieu of flowers, Judge Gelber’s family kindly asks that you donate to the Miami Beach PAL’s Kindergarten Cop Program. If you wish to do so, please mail your donation to Miami Beach PAL at 999 11th Street, Miami Beach, FL 33139 or consider donating through this link.