LWVAC is proud to have several Life Members—those who have been League members for 50 consecutive years! We’ve set out to interview them. Here we talk with Gert Desjardin, who has been with the League for more than 60 years. This interview was first published in the December 2019 LWVAC Voter.

RIBBON CUTTING --- The League of Women Voters of the Clearwater area has opened an office at Sunshine Mall to make the organization’s voter information and materials readily available to the public. House are 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. From left, Mrs. James Desjardin, Mayor H. Everett Hougen and Mrs. Bruce Gould, LWV president.

When did you join the League?

I joined the League about 1958 while living in a small suburb of Minneapolis. We were a small group that got together as a discussion group. We had young children and met in the evenings. It was a way of getting out of the house and chatting with other adults.

Ten years later we moved to Clearwater, Florida, which had an active League with many units.
We formed discussion groups, met in homes, and used League materials to reach consensus. Tampa at that time didn’t have as many League units, but they were electing members into political office: Betty Castor, Helen Gordon Davis, Fran Davin.

When we retired we moved to Citrus County and joined the provisional League there.

In 1996 we moved to Gainesville where one daughter lives and five had gone to UF. We had been coming to the Hippodrome for years. We became active in many groups—including the League—until slowing down in recent years.

What issues have moved you the most?

I have been interested in many issues, but no matter which issue there was a strong emphasis in the League on non-partisanship, and there was a long process of coming to consensus.

What big changes have you seen in the landscape—political, the League, Gainesville?

I was President of Clearwater LWV in 1974, at a time of great change. We started using our own names, instead of our husbands’. I had been Mrs. James Desjardin in the newspaper, and in League documents. Most of us at that time went to work or back to college. Men joined the League. (My husband Jim joined as soon as he could!)

What advice or lessons learned would you pass on to our members?

Material published by the League has always been thoroughly researched, but information presented by today’s social media is much more efficient. Remember: you need to check your sources!