Former House Speaker Ralph Haben passes

Manatee County resident and former Florida Speaker of the House Ralph Haben passed away Saturday, June 13, 2026, while in hospice care. He was 84. Haben served as the Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives from 1980 to 1982.

Haben graduated from Palmetto High School and went on to earn an Education degree from the University of Florida in 1964. He later received his Juris Doctor from Cumberland School of Law.

After graduating from law school, Haben worked as an aide to Bradenton Senator Wilbur Boyd and served as a municipal judge prior to being elected to the House. Among his many accomplishments, Haben secured the funding for the Manatee County Civic Center, which was built in 1985 and later renamed the Bradenton Area Convention Center. The building's address is 1 Haben Blvd in his honor.

After retiring from the legislature, he practiced law in Manatee and Leon County. Haben served in the National Guard and was a member of the Kiwanis and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He survived several brushes with death, including a serious case of Hashimoto's thyroiditis, a black widow bite, the sinking of a boat 12 miles offshore, and a plane crash.

Former House colleague Hyatt Brown, who preceded Haben as Speaker, said the two met on their first day in the House, and he knew right away he liked the man, a fellow University of Florida alum and Phi Delta Theta member. Brown described Haben as a man of great wit whose humor was disarming.

"When Ralph gave you his word, it was solid gold," said Brown, "and I'm not just talking about his friends. That was true as a legislator and that made him powerful because when people know that your word is your bond, you can really get things done."

Haben left the legislature to run for Florida Comptroller in 1982, but suffered the only electoral defeat of his career. He briefly considered a run for Governor but instead decided to become a lobbyist for many large interests in the state legislature.

A resident of Tallahassee, he met and married his wife Michelle there and the family said the couple spent "30 beautiful, adventure-filled years together."  They would often leave for weeks at a time to deep-sea fish, ride motorcycles out West, and travel, especially when it was to see the Gators play. Ralph and Michelle were described as soulmates whose love grew more with each year spent together.

Ralph's daughter, Elizabeth Watford, described her father as "larger than life."

"As an only child, I spent so much time listening and learning from him, mostly in the form of idioms that conveyed the importance of loyalty, honesty, and knowing how to make people laugh," said Watford. "When I wasn't with him, I could almost always guarantee someone in the room knew him. People would say to me, 'I can't imagine what it's like being Ralph Haben's daughter.' Well, I can tell you, being Ralph Haben's daughter was the craziest, funniest, and greatest experience of my life. He was a lot of things to many different people, but only 'Dad' to one, and for that, I feel like the luckiest girl alive. I will miss him every day for the rest of my life."

Godspeed, Mr. Haben. Your community thanks you for your many years of service.