Arts supporter Claude Focardi dies

ST. PETERSBURG -- Claude C. Focardi, a prominent beer distributor who supported local fine arts and pushed for Major League Baseball for the Tampa Bay area, has died at 89.

Mr. Focardi was the founder and chairman of Great Bay Distributing, an Anheuser-Busch wholesaler in Largo for Pinellas and west Pasco counties. He died Monday (June 17, 2002) at home under the care of his family and Hospice of the Florida Suncoast.

An early member of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays ownership group, he also had strong ties to the St. Louis Cardinals, which were owned for decades by the Busch family and trained each spring in St. Petersburg for more than a half-century.

With the arrival of the Devil Rays, the Cardinals moved their spring training elsewhere. That saddened Mr. Focardi.

"I'm devastated the Cardinals are leaving," he said in 1996. Later, he added: "I'm one of (managing general partner Vince) Naimoli's limited partners, and I look forward to being a Devil Ray."

In a statement released by the Devil Rays on Tuesday, Naimoli praised Mr. Focardi.

"Claude to me was a very caring and intelligent individual," Naimoli said. "He was a true example of an entrepreneur. From my experiences with him, I found him to be a man who always had the best interests of the community in mind, and he certainly demonstrated that time and time again."

In a sense, Mr. Focardi was present at the creation of the modern Cardinals. In 1953, when August A. "Gussie" Busch became team president, Mr. Focardi was a young executive at the family's beer company.

As Augie Busch's executive assistant, he got a championship ring when the Cards beat the Yankees to win the 1964 World Series. Mr. Focardi started Great Bay Distributors in 1968, and he was one of Augie's favorites and a charter member of the Bat Boys Club, a local group of businessmen that supported the Cards.

At the Museum of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg, where a gallery bears his name, Mr. Focardi and his wife were among the primary supporters in 1998 of an ambitious exhibit that was borrowed from the Petit Palais Museum of Modern Art, Geneva. It was making its U.S. debut.

An honorary member of the museum's board of trustees, Mr. Focardi also served on the boards of United Bank of Pinellas, United Financial Holdings, Pinellas Marine Institute and Saint Leo College.

He was a member of the Florida Beer Wholesalers Association and St. Petersburg Yacht Club and was a former member of the Suncoasters. He also belonged to the Squires Club, the Polywogs and the Dirty Dozen.

Born in New York City, he attended New York University. In World War II he served in the Army Signal Corps, infantry and Air Forces. He attained the rank of warrant officer.

Survivors include his wife of 61 years, Nina; a son, Ronald Petrini,and a daughter, Claudia Sokolowski, both of Largo; a sister, Corinne Toriello, New York City; four grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; and two nieces.

A memorial service will be at 11 a.m. Sunday at the Museum of Fine Arts, 255 Beach Drive NE. Anderson-McQueen Funeral Homes & Cremation Tribute Center-Bobbitt Chapel is in charge of arrangements.

The family suggests memorial contributions to Hospice Foundation of the Florida Suncoast, 300 East Bay Drive, Largo, FL 33770.

-- Information from Times files was used in this obituary.

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright