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Tampa City Council member Gwen Henderson has died at 60 years old.
Tampa’s Mayor and its City Council Chair confirmed the sudden death Tuesday morning.
Henderson was sworn into the Tampa City Council in 2023 and became Chair of the Community Redevelopment Agency shortly after.
Prior to serving on the City Council, she spent decades as an educator with Hillsborough County Public Schools and served on the City of Tampa’s Citizens Review Board.
Council member Lynn Hurtak served alongside Henderson.
“Her legacy is being a fierce advocate for her community, for the city at large. And I just – for me, it will be the reminder to fight for things I believe in. She was really good at that,” Hurtak told WMNF.
Hurtak said the news shocked her, and Henderson was someone to look up to.
“She started calling me fifteen, and I would call her sixteen, because we were the fifteenth and sixteenth women to serve on city council in its history – so she really loved to put a historical point on a lot of what she did,” Hurtak said.
Henderson was the chair of Tampa’s Community Redevelopment Agency and owned an African-American bookstore in Tampa Heights.
In a statement, Mayor Jane Castor and Council Chair Alan Clendenin called her a “powerhouse” and a champion for African-American culture and Tampa’s history.
Congress member Kathy Castor called Henderson a ‘tireless advocate.’
Plans to honor Henderson’s life and service will be shared in the coming days.
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