Doyle Conner

Conner was a fourth generation Floridian. From an early age, he worked in the family business of raising cattle, growing strawberries, and cutting timber.{{cite web|title=Florida Citus Hall of Fame - Doyle Conner (1928)|publisher=Florida Citrus Mutual|url=http://floridacitrushalloffame.com/index.php/inductees/inductee-name/?dd_asId=630|date=|accessdate=January 1, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170102080910/http://floridacitrushalloffame.com/index.php/inductees/inductee-name/?dd_asId=630|archive-date=January 2, 2017|url-status=dead}} As a young man, Conner was active in 4-H, serving as president of the local and Alachua County branches of the club.

At the age of 14, while attending a Florida Cooperative Extension Service forestry camp at a 4-H facility, Conner met the Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Nathan Mayo, and proclaimed that he would, some day, become Agriculture Commissioner when Mayo retired.{{cite web|title=Florida 4-H Hall of Fame - Doyle Conner|publisher=University of Florida IFAS Extension|url=http://florida4h.org/foundation1/FL4H/ConnerD.htm|date=2009|accessdate=January 1, 2017}} In later life, Conner would remark that Without 4-H I would not be the person I am today, or have accomplished the things that I have.

Conner attended the University of Florida{{cite web|title=Endowed Scholarships & Fellowships - Doyle Conner Scholarship|publisher=University of Florida|url=http://www.uff.ufl.edu/scholarships/ScholarshipInfo.asp?ScholarshipFund=002731|date=December 21, 2016|accessdate=January 2, 2017}} from 1947 until 1952 graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in agriculture.{{cite news |last1=Kennedy |first1=John |title=CONNER TO RETIRE NEXT YEAR |url=https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-1989-08-10-8902250282-story.html |access-date=17 February 2021 |publisher=The Sun Sentinel |date=August 10, 1989}} While in college he was also a member of Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity. In addition, he served as National FFA President and was inducted in the Florida FFA Hall of Fame in 2007.

Conner served his entire political career as a Democrat. He was first elected to the Florida House of Representatives in 1950, while he was still a student at the University of Florida. The feat earned Conner the nickname of "Boy Wonder", a label that stuck with him throughout his legislative career. Conner represented Bradford County while serving in the lower house. In 1958, at the age of 28, he was elected as the youngest Speaker of the House. On January 2, 1961, Doyle Conner was inaugurated as Commissioner of Agriculture, succeeding Lee Thompson who assumed the post of interim Commissioner upon Nathan Mayo's death in office. Conner went on to serve as Florida's Agriculture for the next 30 years. During his tenure as Commissioner, Conner oversaw efforts to eliminate the giant African snail, hog cholera, the Mediterranean fruit fly, and the cattle screwworm. During the 1980s, Conner was embroiled in political controversy regarding the lethal citrus canker{{cite web|title=Florida Still Struggles Over the Citrus Canker|work=New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/07/02/us/florida-still-struggles-over-the-citrus-canker.html|date=July 2, 1989|accessdate=April 17, 2019}} disease and Florida citrus nurseries. While serving in this post he served under 7 Governors of Florida.[http://www.florida-agriculture.com/videos/scripts/script_doyle_conner_years.htm Accomplishments as Commissioner of Agriculture] Conner retired in 1991, and was active in Florida 4-H for much of his remaining life. He was inducted into the Florida Agriculture Hall of Fame in 1985, the Florida Citrus Hall of Fame in 1991, and the Florida 4-H Hall of Fame in 2002.{{cite web|title=Florida Agriculture Hall of Fame|publisher=Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services|url=http://www.freshfromflorida.com/Agriculture-Industry/Honors-and-Awards/Florida-Agricultural-Hall-of-Fame|date=2017|accessdate=January 2, 2017}}

Doyle Conner died at a nursing home in Monticello, Florida on December 16, 2012, one day before his 84th birthday.{{cite web |url=http://www.news4jax.com/news/Former-state-ag-commissioner-Doyle-Conner-dies/-/475880/17796578/-/format/rsss_2.0/-/hl00oqz/-/index.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130111064948/http://www.news4jax.com/news/Former-state-ag-commissioner-Doyle-Conner-dies/-/475880/17796578/-/format/rsss_2.0/-/hl00oqz/-/index.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=2013-01-11 |title=Former state ag commissioner Doyle Conner dies | News - Home |publisher=News4jax.com |accessdate=2012-12-17 }}

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• [https://web.archive.org/web/20110726061340/http://florida4h.org/foundation/FL4H/ConnerD.htm Official biography]

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{{s-bef|before=Nathan Mayo}}

{{s-ttl|title=Democratic nominee for Florida Commissioner of Agriculture|years=1960, 1964, 1966, 1970, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1986}}

{{s-aft|after=Bob Crawford}}

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{{Florida Commissioners of Agriculture}}

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Category:1928 births

Category:2012 deaths

Category:People from Starke, Florida

Category:Speakers of the Florida House of Representatives

Category:Democratic Party members of the Florida House of Representatives

Category:University of Florida College of Agricultural and Life Sciences alumni

Category:Florida commissioners of agriculture

Category:United States Foreign Service personnel

Category:20th-century members of the Florida Legislature