Friday, May 10, 2013
The Clearwater couple was married for 62 years.
In an age of starter marriages and gray divorces, Richard and Esther Wheeley's 62 years of matrimony was the exception. In fact their marriage – and deaths just days apart – was so exceptional and telling of a rare devotion that the Tampa Tribune memorialized the Clearwater couple's passing Friday in a column by Stephen Thompson. Esther died Friday, May 3, at the age of 83. Two days later, on Sunday, May 5, Richard passed away in his sleep at the couple's mobile home in Clearwater. Richard was 82. The couple had just celebrated their 62nd wedding anniversary the week before Esther's passing. Thompson writes: "It was love at first sight for the longtime couple. He was an orderly at Bronson Methodist Hospital in Kalamazoo, Mich., and she was…
Monday, April 1, 2013
Elsie Calvert Thompson was the fourth oldest person in the world at the time of her death, the Tampa Bay Times reported.
CLEARWATER, FL -- Elsie Calvert Thompson, the oldest person in the United States has died at her Clearwater condo. She was 114 years old, according to the Tampa Bay Times. According to the Times, Thompson was born on April 5, 1899 and credited her long life to always smiling and having a positive outlook on life. "I love people," she told the Times in a 2011 interview. Earlier this year, when she became the oldest person in the country, her son told the Times that he didn't want visitors because he was concerned about the flu season. So he described how she spent her time puttering around her condo, gazing from her window and chatting with her caregivers. To read the rest Thompson's obituary in the Tampa Bay Times, click here. Sign up …
Thursday, March 14, 2013
For the first time in four decades, Wendell "Popcorn" Casper, the man on the red scooter with the heavy wooden cane, will not be on the sidelines for football games at Jack White Stadium at Clearwater High School.
For the first time in four decades, the man with the red scooter and heavy wooden cane will not be on the sidelines of Jack White Stadium at Clearwater High School. Wendell “Popcorn” Casper, known for his hardcore attendance at virtually every Clearwater Tornadoes game — home or away, varsity or junior varsity — died March 8, according to legacy.com. He was 77. Riding up and down the sideline on a red scooter, Casper was an indelible image at football games. It is estimated Casper attended more than 750 games since moving to the Clearwater area in 1984 and becoming a fan shortly after. He created a longstanding game-day tradition of people raising his heavy wooden cane, according to an interview he gave in 2009 with myfoxtampabay.com. His …
Thursday, December 27, 2012
Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf had retired to Tampa, Fla., after a final military assignment leading U.S. Central Command.
Retired Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf, 78, passed away today in Tampa, according to media reports. Schwarzkopf was best known to the American people for his leadership in removing Saddam Hussein and his forces from Kuwait in 1991. Schwarzkopf had successfully led an international coalition of U.S. allies to drive out Iraqi troops. "Barbara and I mourn the loss of a true American patriot and one of the great military leaders of his generation," former President George H.W. Bush said in a written statement, according to ABC News. Schwarzkopf led what came to be known as Operation Desert Storm under President Bush. Most recently, Schwarzkopf had served as commander-in-chief of U.S. Central Command, headquartered at MacDill Air Force Base in …
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Small business has been a major theme both inside and outside the Tampa Bay Times Forum this week.
Small business has been a major theme both inside and outside the Tampa Bay Times Forum this week. With events tied to the 2012 Republican National Convention taking place in all parts of the Tampa Bay area, many local business owners prepared to have the biggest money making week of their year. At the beginning of the convention, Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn and the 2012 Tampa Host Committee projected a $150 – 175 million boost to Tampa’s economy because of the 2012 RNC. "The way the City (of Tampa) and the Downtown Partnership put it out, we'd have 50,000 visitors and we'd be swamped," said Marc Zolkowski earlier this week. Zolkowski is the co-owner of the Metro Lounge and Restaurant in downtown Tampa. His neighboring business owner, …
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Elizabeth “Betty” McGeachy Ernst, a 1953 graduate of Clearwater High School, was an avid traveller who taught English at the school and in Virginia.
Elizabeth “Betty” McGeachy Ernst, 76, of Springfield, Virginia and Montreat, North Carolina, passed away on July 26, 2012 at Mission Memorial Hospital in Asheville, North Carolina from complications following abdominal surgery. Betty was born to the Rev. Daniel Patrick McGeachy, Jr. and Elizabeth Lyle McClure on Feb. 7, 1936 at Emory University in Atlanta, Ga. The “preacher’s daughter” grew up in Monroe, NC and Clearwater graduating from Clearwater High School in 1953. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in English and Psychology from Queens College of Charlotte in NC, her Master of Arts in English from the University of South Florida, and her Master of Education in Counseling from George Mason University in Fairfax, Va. Upon graduating from …
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Hometown boy Howard Hamilton, best known as the businessman who owned the Palm Pavilion, died Friday (Feb. 24).
Hometown boy Howard Hamilton, best known as the businessman who owned the Palm Pavilion, died Friday, Feb. 24. Hamilton was a graduate of Clearwater High, where he was part of two undefeated football teams. He went to what was known as St. Petersburg Junior College at the time before earning an engineering degree at Georgia Tech. When he moved back to Florida, he started building homes. Then he went to work at GE using his engineering degree. He worked there about five years before buying the Palm Pavilion in 1964 from the man who owned it 42 years. “I quit the engineering job and stayed over there,” Hamilton said in an interview for an oral history project the city started a few years ago. Many long time residents shared their stories …
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
The memorial service for the trainer of boxing greats Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Leonard is scheduled for Friday in Clearwater.
Legendary boxing trainer Angelo Dundee's funeral is scheduled for 1 p.m. Friday at Countryside Christian Center, 1850 N. McMullen Booth Road. Visitation is from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Dundee, who died Feb. 1 at age 90, trained boxing greats Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Leonard. Dundee led an active life despite his age. Dundee had recently visited the International Boxing Hall of Fame in New York and National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame in Chicago. He also visited Muhammad Ali for Ali's 70th birthday, according to the Los Angeles Times' Sports Now blog. Dundee's son, James, told the Times that his father didn't get a chance to talk very much to Ali because the party was so loud. "But with those two ... Muhammad doesn't talk well and Dad…
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Tuesday, February 7, 2012
The 63 year-old was President and CEO of Suncoast Hospice and was a pioneer in the U.S. hospice movement.
Funeral arrangements will be announced in the coming days for 63 year-old hospice pioneer, Mary Labyak, who passed away at her Clearwater home Saturday, Feb. 4. "Mary died peacefully in the loving care of a Suncoast Hospice patient and family care team, her family and dear friends," according to a statement released by Suncoast Hospice. "Mary was a guiding force in end-of-life care and will be greatly missed." According to a Suncoast Hospice spokesperson, Labyak died from complications of cancer. Labyak was the president and CEO of Suncoast Hospice and was highly regarded in her field. At the time of her death, she was the chairperson of the National Hospice Foundation Board of Trustees and has been the recipient of many awards. “Of the…
Friday, September 9, 2011
Hundreds turn out on Friday morning to talk about what the former Tampa Bay Buccaneer meant to them.
Although his body will be laid to rest in the state where he was born, hundreds of people in Tampa Bay gathered on Friday morning to honor the life of Lee Roy Selmon and his impact on the community during a memorial service at Idlewild Baptist Church. Selmon, 56, died on Sunday after suffering a stroke. During the service at the Lutz church, friends, family members and public officials spoke of the former Tampa Bay Buccaneers star and USF athletic director's impact on their lives. They remembered him as a man of integrity and a philanthropist who was devoted to his wife and three children. "You grew to love him," his brother, Dewey Selmon, told the crowd, "and he loved you just as much." Dewey Selmon spoke of their upbringing in Oklahoma, …
Linda Hersey
8:30 pm on Monday, May 13, 2013
Thanks, Debbi. I am glad we could share such a wonderful story. They seemed like very special people. -- Linda more ›