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Obituary

Isadore DeCubellis, 93, horticulturist, dairy farmer

He was the son of one of the county's founding families but shaped his own legacy of friendliness and success.

By ALEX LEARY
Published February 18, 2005

NEW PORT RICHEY - Isadore DeCubellis was many things in nearly a century of life - pioneer, horticulturist, dairy farmer, mosquito fighter, husband, father.

Late last year, he collected two more titles when neighbors at Regency Residence voted him the friendliest and said he had the best laugh.

It was a fitting coda, said his daughter, Kay Sue Waddell.

"To me, he represented everything that is good," she said Thursday. "He was a true gentleman. All the women where he lived had tears in their eyes when he went into the hospital."

The son of one of Pasco County's founding families who honed his own legacy, Mr. DeCubellis died Tuesday (Feb. 15, 2005) at Life Care Center in New Port Richey. He was 93 and the oldest living DeCubellis.

Mr. DeCubellis moved to Pasco with his parents, Peter and Frances DeCubellis, in 1918 from Quebec and lived on their homestead in New Port Richey with eight brothers and sisters.

At 16, he became a groundskeeper at Moon Lake Gardens, a resort frequented by wealthy Northerners. "He learned how to graft plants and knew everything there was to know about roses," his daughter said.

About 1940, Mr. DeCubellis went to work for George R. Sims, looking after his property along the Pithlachascotee River. But after a while, Sims urged the young man to make his own mark. That came in the form of a farm on 40 acres off Grand Boulevard in New Port Richey. Palm Grove Dairy delivered milk to houses and supplied stores and schools. In 1956, Mr. DeCubellis sold the farm and moved to St. Petersburg, only to return to Pasco a few years later to start a dairy on land near where the Suncoast Parkway now runs in central Pasco.

A young boy named John Gallagher used to hang around the farm in New Port Richey and was the butt of practical jokes. He accepted gum only to find out it was laced with salt. He grabbed barbwire only to discover it was electrified. He took up directions to milk a cow only to find out the animal liked to kick.

Gallagher grew up and became county administrator and in the early 1990s, paid Mr. DeCubellis a visit. The county had plans for a four-lane road that cut through the aging farmer's property. The highway was to be called DeCubellis Road.

"I said, "Izzy, it took me 30 years to get even,"' Gallagher said Thursday, laughing.

"He was the last of the old breed," Gallagher said. "He made my childhood very nice, very memorable."

Mr. DeCubellis retired from farming about 1967, his daughter said, and took a job with the mosquito control board, which he was instrumental in forming back in the 1950s. "They needed him," Waddell said. "My father knew every bog and every pond in the county."

A lifetime of knowledge was put to use in his later years with visits to schools. He also frequented restaurants in New Port Richey. Until a year ago, he was still driving his car, a white 1988 Chrysler New Yorker.

Mr. DeCubellis and his wife, Ina, who died in 1979 from breast cancer, had four children, one of whom died. Survivors include a daughter, Kay Sue Waddell, Temple Terrace; and two sons, Jerry DeCubellis, Tampa, and Stephen DeCubellis, Newberry; two sisters, Juliette Housend, Interlachen, and Michealine Little, New Port Richey; and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held Feb. 26 at North Meadowlawn Funeral Home in New Port Richey. Visitation is at 1 p.m. followed by the 2 p.m. service.

[Last modified February 18, 2005, 00:15:15]