Delaware Governor, Ruth Ann Minner
Photo courtesy of the Office of the Governor
Photo courtesy of the Office of the Governor
In 2005, Joseph Frederick & Sons received the Edward M. Rush Senior Memorial Award for Integrity from Delaware's Better Business Bureau.
Born in Slaughter Neck, Del., Ruth Ann Minner left school at age 16 to help her family work their farm. She later married Frank Ingram, who died suddenly when she was only 32 years old. As head of household with three sons to raise, she returned to school to earn her General Educational Development (GED) diploma, while working two jobs and providing for her family. She later married Roger Minner, who died of lung cancer in 1991.
Beginning her political career in 1974, Minner served four terms in the state House of Representatives (1974–1982) and three terms in the state Senate (1982–1993). She served as Delaware's Lieutenant Governor from 1993 until 2001. Minner became the first female governor of the state of Delaware on January 3, 2001. Her second term, to which she was elected in 2004, will end in January 2009. Minner has said she does not intend to run for another political office. Significant changes that have taken place under the Minner administration include:
- Enactment of the Clean Indoor Air Act, which banned smoking in almost all public places (including restaurants, bars, bowling alleys, and casinos).
- Establishment of a cancer registry to identify possible "hot spots" or environmental causes of cancer.
- Creation of a first-in-the-nation program to pay for cancer treatment for Delawareans who cannot afford it.
- Launch of a needle exchange program in the City of Wilmington to help slow the spread of HIV and AIDS caused by intravenous drug use.
- Establishment of the Student Excellence Equals Degree (SEED) scholarship program, which enables students who keep their grades up and stay out of trouble to go to college for free in the state of Delaware.
- Construction of the state's first and only veterans home.
- Passage of legislation authorizing every Delaware school district to offer full-day kindergarten by the 2008–2009 school year.