Dedicated state committeewoman dies in Ocala

Kearsten Angel [Submitted photo]

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Posted February 4, 2026 | By Jamie Berube, [email protected]

Kearsten C. Angel, a former victim’s advocate for the State Attorney’s Office dedicated to protecting vulnerable children and a key figure in Marion County’s Republican community, passed away on Jan. 30 at age 57.

According to Angel’s sister, Heather Perez, it was after many years of battling serious medical conditions that Angel, who was a woman of great faith, met her lord and savior as she was surrounded by family members.

Born Nov. 2, 1968, in Ocala, Angel grew up in her hometown and graduated from Forest High School in 1986. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in political science from Rhodes College in 1990 and went on to receive her juris doctor from the Cumberland School of Law at Samford University.

Angel began her career  in the State Attorney’s Office for Florida’s Fifth Judicial Circuit, where she specialized in the sex crimes and child abuse unit. In this role, she advocated for young victims and prosecuted offenders in Marion, Lake, Citrus, Hernando and Sumter counties.

After her time as a victim’s advocate, Angel transitioned into other pursuits, including work with Melaleuca: The Wellness Company, while channeling her energies increasingly toward civic and political engagement in her home county.

In Marion County, Angel emerged as a cornerstone of Republican grassroots activism. She progressed from volunteerism to key leadership roles, serving as an elected state committeewoman for the Marion County Republican Executive Committee (MCREC).

Brigitte Smith, who worked closely with her for over 12 years and knew her well, described her indelible presence.

“Kearsten shows up! No matter what, Kearsten would always show up,” Smith said. “The most valuable and dependable person was Kearsten.”

Smith emphasized Kearsten’s reliability and selflessness in the political arena.

“Kearsten was always there for me, as the chair of the Marion County Republican Executive Committee, that one single person that I did not need to ask [to be there for me], was always Kearsten,” Smith added.

Smith shared that Angel was “a staple” in Marion County politics.

“There was never an event where Kearsten did not attend. Kearsten was always the ‘go-to’ person if anyone ever needed to know anything. She signified the true meaning of what it meant to be a precinct committee member,” Smith said.

“Kearsten cared deeply about our students’ education. While she attended city and county government meetings, the school board meetings were definitely where she shared her utmost concern,” Smith added.

“She will always be remembered for being a staunch advocate for residential interests, attending city council, county commission and school board meetings, and always standing in the gap between community needs and policy implementation,” she continued.

Retired State Senator Dennis Baxley highlighted Angel’s essential behind-the-scenes role in the Republican ecosystem.

“Kearsten Angel was an angel,” Baxley said.

“She was an essential connection as state committeewoman between candidates for office and the Republican party structure, and she did that locally, between organizations here, as well as with state organizations,” Baxley said.

“She was a very essential information gatherer and putting together people to participate in the election cycle in the Republican world for this area of the state,” he continued.

Baxley praised her interpersonal skills and patience in a high-emotion environment.

“She had a great capacity to deal with a variety of people and types of people, and she was always in that assistance role of helping connect the dots for people who care about public office and are trying to support a candidate or be a candidate,” Baxley said.

He described her as “really quite subdued.”

“She was a good listener, and that’s what it takes in public service, is people that help you listen to what matters and what the concerns are, and how to approach them, and also the qualities of a good candidate and how to identify good prospects, and helpful to those that need that connection of understanding what public policy world is all about,” Baxley said.

“I put about 20 years in, and so I really treasured people like her because they do the hard work, the heavy lifting every day of carrying on these communications between parts of the system, and without them, it’s hard to be a part of public service,” he continued.

He noted that he had served as Marco Rubio’s first pro tempore in the Florida House and remains the only Floridian to have held a leadership pro tempore position in both the House and, later, the Senate. Even with that background, he said it made him truly value someone like Angel. According to Baxley, she helped people recognize the importance of public service and inspired them to get involved, even when they didn’t understand how to navigate the political process.

“Her role is a thankless job of talking to many, many people and helping them find their place and working with one another, and she will be sorely missed,” Baxley said.

Angel’s faith was central to her life. Baxley, a fellow believer, said Angel “loved her country, faith, family and freedom.”

“That’s what she cared about, and that’s what she touched,” he said.

“She understood, too, that she served something greater—her creator. And so, she was very strong on faith, family and freedom, and how to participate in keeping that alive, the American experiment,” he continued.

For Baxley, the phrase that best captured her is “a ready warrior.”

Marion County Tax Collector George Albright said he worked closely with Angel.

“Our relationship ebbed and flowed. And sometimes, I’d go a year and not talk to her, and then sometimes I talk to her all the time. I was actually intimidated by her. She had a big personality. She was very smart, and she was very driven in whatever the subject matter we were dealing with at the time, and so as a result, you had to be on your toes, because she would call foul on you if you were off on your assessment of whatever the situation was,” Albright said.

“When she was around me, it was not that she was standoffish about me, to the tune of somebody else, but her persona was all business. She was on a mission, and that was to secure Republican or secure conservative, not necessarily even Republican politics, but conservative principles across the board, at every level of government. She wanted conservative school board members; she wanted conservative county commissioners,” Albright said.

“I’ve got a saying that I think is original to me: There’s no such thing as a moderate activist, which means you’re driven by your passions, and that includes hobbies as well. And Kearsten was very passionate about what she did, and there were years when she started out that we were very much in the minority, and we had to claw, scream and scratch our way to the next level on anything involving Republican politics. And that never deterred her. She was in it to win it,” Albright said.

On the political impact left behind by Angel, Albright said she was very much involved as an activist.

“Marion County had always been a conservative bastion of voters, but they were Yellow Dog Democrats and Southern Democrats, and it was very hard to break free of what they had been doing for 100 years. More directly, Kearsten was very much involved in that as an activist. When Republicans, people like her, were more like mercenaries and activists. Because, you know, a mercenary to something, there might be five of them, and that’s all you got to try to overturn the other side,” he continued.

“She was very comfortable with retail politics, or you can call it hand-to-hand combat. Meaning going door-to-door or person-to-person at a social function and talking about the virtues of why you should be a Republican,” he said.

“She was tenacious. She was universally loved, occasionally feared, and will be sorely missed,” he said.

Marion County Republican State Committeewoman Patricia “PG” Schafer said she is Angel’s successor .

“I have known Kearsten since we worked on the 2012 election together and I joined the Republican Executive Committee after that election and have served on the committee with her since that time. She became state committee woman in 2020 and served until 2024. With her blessing, I took over as a state committee woman in 2024 and have very big shoes to fill,” Schafer said.

“If there’s anything I have to say about Kearsten, it would be that she loved this community like no other and wanted the very best people for every elected position, whether it was the city of Ocala or Marion County. She always worked very hard to find people to run for any seat up for election. Most elected officials in the city or the county owe Kearsten a debt of gratitude for all of her hard work for them. Despite whatever her challenges were, she was always the first to raise her hand for a job that needed to be done. She was always the first to arrive, and I mean WAY the first to arrive. And always one of the last to leave any event. Her loss leaves a very big hole and she will be very missed,” Schafer continued.

Representative Ryan Chamberlin met Angel when he first ran for office in 2020. 

“She will be remembered by me as encouraging, kind, hard-working and sold out for the conservative movement,” Chamberlain said. “I will miss seeing her at local events and conversing with her on various topics.   Her influence had a positive influence not only in Ocala, but around the State. She made a difference.”

“I first met Kearsten in 2001 on the campaign trail, when I was running for office and she was assisting her father, Carvin Angel, in his judicial campaign. We became fast friends, bonded by our shared political passions,” offered Sue Mosley. “Throughout the years, we worked closely together to support many candidates in their efforts to serve our community. We later became neighbors. Kearsten was a dedicated and tireless worker, a wonderful friend and a truly dear person. I will miss her deeply, and her impact on this community will be felt for a long time to come.”

Shelia Arnett, a close friend of Angel, described her as a woman of strong faith whose beliefs provided comfort and perspective in Angel’s passing. In a recent Facebook memorial post, Arnett highlighted Angel’s journey toward peace.

“While her healing didn’t take place in the way we expected, she saw Jesus face to face,” Arnett wrote.

According to Perez, beyond her professional and political life, Angel played a mean game of Rook, held family close to her heart and treasured her dear friends. Her strong faith sustained her and she looked forward to her eternal restoration.

Angel was preceded in death by her parents, Carven and Marsha Angel of Ocala. She is survived by anothersister, Ashley (Tim) Raymond; nieces, Evie (Liam) Reagan, Shannen Raymond, Macy Raymond; stepmom, Gloria Angel; stepsisters, Marj (Scott) Neal, Heather Lenemier; and stepbrothers, Mike (Dana) Alsop, Fran (Kathy) Alsop.

The family will celebrate Angel’s life at 2 p.m., Feb, 15,  at Central Christian Church, 3010 NE 14th St., Ocala. The family will welcome friends from 1:30 p.m. until the service begins and invites guests to stay for refreshment and fellowship afterward. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the American Kidney Fund or to the Marion County Republican Executive Committee, in care of Len Racioppi, treasurer, 5288 SW 85th St., Ocala, FL 34476.