[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 102 (Thursday, July 9, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1709-E1710]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    GULFPORT, FLORIDA MOURNS THE PASSING OF ROBERT W. CALDWELL, JR.

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. C.W. BILL YOUNG

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, July 9, 2009

  Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Madam Speaker, it is with a deep sadness that I 
share with my colleagues the passing of my good friend and constituent 
Robert W. Caldwell, Jr. of Gulfport, Florida.
  There was no more patriotic American than R. W. Caldwell, Jr. who 
died this past Fourth of July at the age of 88. He moved to Gulfport as 
a young boy during the 1920's and never left. During those more than 80 
years, he fell in love with this small Florida city and throughout his 
lifetime he always strived to make it a better place to live. He built 
and sold homes in Gulfport, throughout Pinellas County and the state of 
Florida.
  Bob also understood the value of preserving the history of our area 
and as such led community efforts to support the Gulfport Historical 
Society and restore some of its landmark sites including Scout Hall.
  It was most appropriate that this past April, the City of Gulfport 
honored R. W. Caldwell, Jr. by naming a park in his honor. The City 
will turn out Saturday at this park to pay their respects to the life 
of this special man and to thank him for his lifelong contributions to 
making Gulfport such a special place in which to live, to learn, to 
work and to play.
  Following my remarks, I will include for the benefit of my colleagues 
an article and obituary from The St. Petersburg Times about Bob's life.
  Madam Speaker, my special thoughts go out to Bob's wife of 63 years 
Adele, his daughters April and Elise, his son Bill, and three 
grandchildren. In addition to his wife and family, one of R. W. 
Caldwell Jr.'s other loves of his life was fishing the beautiful waters 
of Florida and the Gulf of Mexico. It is my hope that his family always 
remembers this giant of our community when they pass by one of our 
waterways, see a fisherman casting out a line, and watch one of 
Florida's trademark sunsets over the Gulf of Mexico. May R. W. 
Caldwell, Jr. rest in peace.

             [From the St. Petersburg Times, July 8, 2009]

                Longtime Builder `Sketched Out Gulfport'

                          (By Andrew Meacham)

       Gulfport--R.W. Caldwell didn't just develop Gulfport, he 
     lived there, putting down roots in its sandy soil. He lived 
     for the outdoors and fishing--priorities that never changed 
     even as his company became one of the Tampa Bay area's most 
     recognizable names in real estate.
       He added construction to a company that specialized in real 
     estate and insurance. The expansion resulted in hundreds of 
     new homes in Pinellas, Pasco and Charlotte counties, 
     including some of the area's largest subdivisions and an 
     influx of high-end homes to Gulfport.
       Mr. Caldwell died of a stroke Saturday. He was 88.
       ``He was a remarkable pioneer,'' said Gulfport Mayor 
     Michael Yakes. ``He really sketched out Gulfport in his own 
     right.''
       While franchises of huge companies like Coldwell Banker and 
     Keller Williams dominate coast to coast, Mr. Caldwell's name 
     has endured locally.
       ``The whole real estate industry was started by fellows 
     like R.W. Caldwell,'' said Victor Adamo, chairman of the 
     Pinellas Realtor Organization.
       After getting a degree at M.I.T. and working as an 
     aeronautical engineer in

[[Page E1710]]

     California, Mr. Caldwell moved back home to rejoin his 
     father's business in 1951.
       He had foresight, buying properties dense in trees, then 
     endeavoring to save as many as possible in subdivisions. He 
     predicted the coming of multifamily homes as cities built to 
     their boundaries.
       ``What has happened in Gulfport will, in many cases, happen 
     elsewhere in Pinellas,'' he wrote in a guest column for the 
     Times in 1960.
       He trusted his know-how, maintaining his 1994 Chevrolet 
     station wagon himself. The car still runs with 200,000 miles 
     on it. He built a single-engine boat he later took to the 
     Bahamas for a fishing trip.
       Mr. Caldwell also trusted his instincts with people, 
     quietly helping those he believed were doing all they could 
     for themselves. At least twice, he shipped $12,000 worth of 
     beans to Haiti.
       When his housekeeper couldn't qualify for a mortgage, Mr. 
     Caldwell took one out himself, then collected monthly 
     payments. When the housekeeper's family finished the payments 
     years later, he handed over the deed.
       He enjoyed a daily martini with his wife, Adele, and eating 
     smoked mullet with childhood friends, including the mayor and 
     other city officials.
       After selling Jordan-Caldwell, the construction arm, to 
     U.S. Homes in 1972, Mr. Caldwell stayed with U.S. Homes until 
     the late 1970s. He remained with the family company as an 
     adviser.
       ``There are a lot of developers who have taken their piece 
     of the pie and not made a better place to live,'' said Tina 
     Douglass, wife of former St. Pete Beach Mayor Bob Douglass. 
     ``Wherever R. W. was, he always made it a better place. He 
     left a good mark.''


                                Obituary

       CALDWELL, Robert W. Jr. 88, of Gulfport and Boca Grande, 
     was born on Aug. 20, 1920 in Meadville, PA to Gail Jarrell 
     Caldwell and Robert W. Caldwell Sr. He died in Bayfront 
     Medical Center in St. Petersburg this past Saturday, July 4, 
     2009. His maternal grandparents, George and Abigail Jarrell 
     first brought him to Gulfport In the 1920s. Because of the 
     two week quarantine of new Florida students to avoid bringing 
     in infectious diseases, he fished with his grandparents 
     daily, in lieu of school. After the quarantine, he first 
     attended Roser Park and then the brand new Gulfport 
     Elementary School. He fished at the Gulfport Pier nearly 
     everyday. Back then, Gulfport was open to the Gulf; there was 
     no Bayway, and the waters were turquoise and teeming with 
     fish. When his grandparents opened the Gulfport Market, he 
     helped them out along with his mom and his Aunts Isabel, Anne 
     and Helen. He attended Disston Junior High and St. Petersburg 
     High School. He continued to fish at every chance and took 
     advantage of every opportunity to assist local boat captains. 
     He was an excellent boatsman and fisherman. Known as Bo in 
     the 1920s and `30s, Bob was always an excellent student, too. 
     He graduated St. Pete High in 1938, and, after attending St. 
     Petersburg Junior College for a year, enrolled in the 
     Massachusetts Institute of Technology. While at MIT, Bob 
     captained the lightweight crew. He had excellent skills with 
     tools that he had learned from his grandfather Jarrell and 
     returned to Gulfport summers during college and built homes 
     for his father and Ed Markham. He graduated MIT during World 
     War II in January, 1943 with a degree in aeronautical 
     engineering. From many job offers, he chose Convair in San 
     Diego, which later became part of General Dynamics. He built 
     B-24s and other aircraft. He married Adele Allport in 1945. 
     All three of their children were born in La Jolla, CA. Bob 
     arrived back in Gulfport with his family on July 4, 1951. His 
     plan was to work with his Dad and open the building division 
     of R.W. Caldwell, Inc., a real estate and insurance business 
     originally started by his father in 1937. In late 1952, Bob 
     found himself running the entire company after his father's 
     untimely death. He was a successful investor and land 
     developer and was elected in 1954 President of the 
     Contractors and Builders Association of Pinellas County. Bob 
     was the first President of the Gulfport Chamber of Commerce 
     and was President of the Friends of the Gulfport Library when 
     the new library was built at 28th and Beach Boulevard. He was 
     an over 50 year member of the St. Petersburg Yacht Club. Some 
     of the subdivisions he developed in his career included 
     Pelican Creek and Catalina Gardens plus he built hundreds of 
     individual homes throughout Pinellas County. He was an 
     organizing director and built the First Bank of Gulfport, was 
     chairman of the Pinellas County branches of Royal Trust Bank 
     and was an organizing director of First Gulf Bank. He was 
     President of Jordan-Caldwell, Inc. that developed San 
     Clemente East in Pasco County. When bought by U.S. Home 
     Corp., Bob became, among other projects, the original 
     developer of Timber Oaks in Pasco County and then became vice 
     president of U.S. Home Corp. in charge of construction for 
     the Central Florida Division. Bob's largest Gulfport business 
     venture was when he became the Managing Partner of the 
     Pasadena Partnership that bought the land known as Skimmer 
     Point and later Pelican Bay and arranged the annexation of 
     this part of Pasadena Yacht and Country Club into Gulfport. 
     Further, he was currently President of Palm Island investment 
     Corp. in Charlotte County and Chairman of R.W. Caldwell, Inc. 
     in Gulfport. Bob lived a very modest life style. He 
     maintained both his boat and auto engines himself. He even 
     built his own 26 foot single engine boat from scratch in his 
     front driveway in the late 1950s and took it on a five week 
     adventure to the Bahamas with his wife and his wife's sister 
     and brother-in-law. He enjoyed along with his wife in taking 
     their children on car trips in the family station wagon to 
     visit many of America's national parks, frequently camping 
     out along the way, and, a generation later, repeating those 
     car trips with their grandchildren. Growing up in the fifties 
     and sixties, Caldwell family weekends were for water 
     recreation and fishing trips. Those were idyllic happy times. 
     Bob was active and smart with a good sense of humor to his 
     last days and enjoyed driving all about town in his 1994 
     Chevy station wagon. He loved fishing till his end and really 
     enjoyed a fishing trip he took this past Father's Day weekend 
     with his son when they went over 55 nautical miles out into 
     the Gulf of Mexico, and Bob showed that he was still an 
     expert at catching 'em. Bob quietly and without fanfare 
     helped many area people in need, but he had a special feeling 
     for people suffering in Haiti. He personally donated, in the 
     last few years at least four entire containers full of more 
     than than 150,000 pounds of beans through For HAITI, With 
     Love to help feed the hungry Haitian people. Bob is survived 
     by his loving and devoted wife of over 63 years, Adele A. 
     Caldwell; three children; a daughter, April Caldwell 
     Hornsleth (Poul); a daughter, Elise `Desi' Caldwell McCarthy 
     (Vaughn); a son, R.W. `Bill' Caldwell, III (Katie), and three 
     grandchildren, Poul Homsleth, Ill. Jody Hornsleth Sepulveda 
     (Rob) and Kyle McCarthy. There will be a memorial gathering 
     this Saturday, July 11th at 10 am in R.W. Caldwell Park at 
     64th Street and Gulfport Boulevard. Parking will be 
     available, and a reception will follow. R.W. Caldwell Park 
     was dedicated just this past April 18th, less than three 
     months ago. The entire Caldwell family is very grateful and 
     appreciative to the City and citizenry of Gulfport that their 
     patriarch, R.W. `Bob' Caldwell Jr., who first came to 
     Gulfport more than 80 years ago, was able to receive and 
     appreciate this wonderful honor before he died. In lieu of 
     flowers, the family asks that donations be made to either For 
     HAITI, With Love. the Gulfport Historical Society or the 
     Friends of the Gulfport Library. Arrangements by R. Lee 
     Williams & Son Funeral Home 5730 15th Avenue South Gulfport 
     33707 727-345-7797 www.rlwilliams.com

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