a look at...
Betty and Mel Sembler
photography by Ray Bassett/Maddox Photography
Betty Sembler is from Tennessee and her husband Mel is
from Missouri. They met at Northwestern University in
Evanston, Illinois, and were married in 1953. After college,
the young couple moved to Los Angeles. They relocated to
Tennessee in 1955. Mel opened his first shopping plaza in
1965 and in 1968, they moved to St. Petersburg. Mel continued
developing shopping centers, which were anchored by an
Eckerd, Walgreens or Publix. Mel served as president of the
International Council of Shopping Centers in 1986-87. Today,
their Sembler Company is a leader in the shopping center
industry.
In the early 1970s, Betty launched her lifelong campaign
against marijuana and other drugs. In 1976, the couple
founded Straight, Incorporated, an adolescent drug treatment
program that treated 12,000 children before ceasing operation
in 1993. Betty then created the Drug Free America Foundation,
an education and prevention program.
Mel is a major Republican fundraiser who has served in
a multitude of leadership positions within the Republican
Party and for presidents of the United States and governors
of Florida. He has served as the United States Ambassador to
Italy from 2001 to 2005 and as the Ambassador to Australia
and Nauru from 1989 through 1993. Mel is on the boards of
the American Enterprise Institute, the Republican Jewish
Coalition, the George and Barbara Bush Foundation and the
White House Historical Association.
Betty has been named a Woman of Distinction by the
Girl Scouts and served on the board of D.A.R.E., a national
organization that provides drug abuse resistance education to
elementary and middle school students. She has been inducted
into the Florida Women’s Hall of Fame and served on the
boards of the Florida Holocaust Museum, Florida Governor’s
Mansion Foundation, the Florida House in Washington,
D.C. and the University of Florida Brain Addiction Research
Advisory Council. The Drug Enforcement Administration
Museum Foundation in Arlington, Virginia has presented her
with its Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of her
commitment to fighting drug addiction.
Betty and Mel are active supporters of a wide variety of
community charitable and cultural organizations. They have
three sons, Steve, Brent and Greg, and eleven grandchildren.
114 TAMPA BAY MAGAZINE | JULY/AUGUST 2020
What do you like most about the Tampa Bay area?
Betty: My family is here!
Mel: Fabulous people live here, especially my family.
What could you talk about for hours?
Betty: Old times
Mel: Politics
What are you famous for?
Betty: Joint founder of Drug Free America and
“Ambassadorable” to my Ambassador
Mel: Making things happen
Who is your role model?
Betty: My mother
Mel: George Herbert Walker Bush
What is the best advice you have ever been given?
Betty: My dad thought he was giving me good advice when
he said, “Don’t marry that guy – He’s too thin. He’s got
consumption.”
Mel: Be willing to pay the price of success.
What do you consider to be your greatest achievement?
Betty: Our marriage of 67 years
Mel: A successful family
How do you think other people would describe you?
Betty: Successful
Mel: Achiever
What is your fondest memory?
Betty: The birth of my children
Mel: Making my first shopping center deal
What talent do you wish you had?
Betty: To play the piano and sing
Mel: Remembering everyone’s name
What is the secret to your success?
Betty: Determination with convictions
Mel: Paying the price of success
What is your favorite thing to eat?
Betty: Cornbread
Mel: Pastrami sandwich
What is your favorite dessert?
Betty: Apple pie
Mel: Ice cream pie
How would you like to be remembered?
Betty: As a loving wife and mother
Mel: Someone who touched people’s lives 9