TAMPA - Doyle Carlton Jr., the former state senator whose Cracker Country village at the Florida State Fair is visited by thousands of schoolchildren every year, died Saturday at his Wauchula home.
He was 80 and died of a brain tumor, which had been diagnosed last month.
A longtime rancher, politician and community leader, Mr. Carlton believed in Cracker living. He liked to hunt turkeys, teach Sunday School and was "proud to be from Hardee County," said Tom McEwen, retired sports editor of the Tampa Tribune and a cousin of Mr. Carlton.
He kissed women's hands and always smiled. "He was gracious," said Dottie Berger MacKinnon, a former Hillsborough County commissioner.
Mr. Carlton embodied many aspects of the old South but not all.
In 1957, he fought an attempt by the Legislature to close the state's schools rather than yield to the U.S. Supreme Court's order to integrate. Three years later, he ran for governor against Farris Bryant, a firm segregationist. On election day, Mr. Carlton carried 11 counties, including Hillsborough and Pinellas.
But Bryant claimed the rest of the state. Mr. Carlton lost.
"Doyle truly represents all that is good about Florida," said George Steinbrenner, who served on the Florida State Fair Authority with Mr. Carlton.
"He had a tremendous love for Florida," said his son, Doyle Carlton III, a rancher and citrus farmer in Wauchula. "The thing about our dad, this was natural for him."
Doyle Elam Carlton Jr. was born in Tampa on July 4, 1922. His great-great-grandfather settled at Fort Meade, 15 miles north of Wauchula, in the early 1800s. His father, Doyle E. Carlton Sr., was governor from 1929 to 1933.
As a boy, Mr. Carlton lived in the governor's mansion with his parents and two sisters, Martha and Mary.
But his father made sure he didn't lose touch with his country roots. Summers were spent in Wauchula with relatives who taught the young Doyle hard work.
The Carltons lived in Tampa after the governorship. Doyle went to Plant High School and was student body president. At the University of Florida, he was captain of the basketball team.
He served in the Army Air Forces in World War II. In 1944, he married his childhood sweetheart, Mildred Woodbery of Tampa.
Mr. Carlton was a state senator for 10 years, representing DeSoto, Glades and Hardee counties. In 1959, the St. Petersburg Times named him the "most valuable senator."
During his Senate years, he pushed to fund the eradication of the screwworm, which at the time was devasting Florida's cattle. The effort earned him a spot in the Florida Agriculture Hall of Fame.
A religious man, Mr. Carlton often would pay someone's electric bill. He was a financial supporter of Joshua House, the Lutz group home for children who have had to be removed from their homes, and helped establish a home for teenage mothers, said Berger MacKinnon, Joshua House's co-founder.
Mr. Carlton's involvement with the State Fair started in 1976. The fair had fallen on hard times.
He enlisted the help of George Steinbrenner. He took the New York Yankees' boss on a tour of the fairgrounds.
It wasn't a hard sell. Steinbrenner grew up in the Midwest and rode ponies and exhibited chickens at the Ohio State Fair. The two men immediately bonded. The fair has never looked back.
Mr. Carlton and his wife Mildred pushed for the creation of a pioneer village. It became known as Doyle Carlton Jr. Cracker Country.
When Mildred died in January, after 59 years of marriage, Mr. Carlton had one last wish: That her name be added to Cracker Country.
Two weeks ago, Olin Mott and other fair officials visited Mr. Carlton and told him that would be done.
"He had a twinkle in his eye," Mott said.
A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday at the First Baptist Church of Wauchula, where Mr. Carlton was a member since 1948. In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial contributions be made to a favorite charity.
Mr. Carlton is survived by his son; two daughters, Jane Carlton Durando and Susan Carlton Smith; six grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren. All live in Wauchula.
His sister Martha Carlton Ward lives in Tampa.
"There is a lot of history being lost when we lose one of our old-timers who have seen very hard times in Florida and very good times," said Charles Bronson, the state's agriculture commissioner. "Doyle was one of them."
- Times staff writers Craig Basse and Amy Scherzer and researcher John Martin contributed to this report.
