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Obituary

Rancher remembered for love of land

After his World War II military service, Raymond M. Kirkland moved to Pasco to make his mark in cattle and citrus.

By STEPHEN HEGARTY
Published February 19, 2005

The roads within Kirkland Ranch, the 1,700-acre homestead of east Pasco rancher Raymond M. Kirkland, tend to be anything but straight lines. For good reason.

"The roads are always twisty and turny because he didn't want to knock down trees," said Betsey Kirkland Denney, 44, the youngest of Raymond and Mary Ann Kirkland's three children. "That land was his life. The land and his family."

Mr. Kirkland, 80, who died last week (Feb. 11, 2005), spent about half a century clearing, working and exploring his large rectangular swath of east Pasco land. The land still sits unspoiled, though with Curley Road to the west and Handcart Road to the east, it is surrounded by housing developments in the making.

When Mr. Kirkland bought the property just a few years after World War II, the land was wild and remote and seemingly a million miles from Tampa. His son, Richard Kirkland of Sebastian, estimated that his father and grandfather spent about $22 an acre for the property.

"At that time it was woods - pine woods and oak hammocks," said daughter Laura Kirkland, 46. "It was so out of the way, there were stills on different parts of the property."

Mr. Kirkland continued to work and explore his land in recent years until poor health slowed him down. Family members said he knew every acre.

"For years he would still take walks and go out there in the swamp, just to see what was there," said Laura Kirkland. "He knew what was on his land."

Mr. Kirkland was born in Jacksonville and raised in Lakeland. Immediately after high school, he enlisted in the military and was still a teen when he was thrust into the European theater of World War II. He didn't talk much about his exploits in the military.

"I knew him for years before I knew anything about his experiences in World War II," said William Dayton, the Dade City attorney and local historian. "He was a very humble man."

During his time as a rifleman with the 35th Infantry Division, Mr. Kirkland participated in the Normandy invasion, military action in northern France, and the Ardennes and Rhineland campaigns. He earned a Silver Star, the Distinguished Service Cross and a Bronze Star.

In 1995, Mr. Kirkland was invited to the town of Zetting, France, for the 50th anniversary of its liberation from the Nazis. Kirkland was the first American soldier to arrive in their town 50 years earlier.

After the war he became a rancher, citrus grower and outdoorsman.

He and his father found a large piece of land in the still-undeveloped east Pasco area of San Antonio. It became his place of work, his livelihood and his home. He caught wild hogs on the property and sold them at a market in Webster, using the profits to buy a bulldozer. He used that to clear some of the land to turn it into pastureland for ranching. When he first got the property, there were only about 6 acres of cleared land.

"It was serious woods," said Richard Kirkland. "There were areas where the palmetto was higher than your head on horseback."

After starting with about 20 wild cows that came with the property, Kirkland eventually had a herd of 250 to 300 cattle. He also grew oranges.

"He wanted to be diversified," said Laura Kirkland. "He figured if the cows don't do well this year, maybe the fruit will."

Mr. Kirkland's children say their father lamented the inevitable march of development up from Tampa.

"We would also say that Tampa was coming our way," said Laura Kirkland. "But we didn't think it would be so soon. Not in my lifetime."

There are no immediate plans for developing the property, but the family is struggling with the issue of whether, how and perhaps when to develop the land.

In a lawsuit filed in November, the Kirkland siblings - Richard and Laura Kirkland and Elizabeth Denney - essentially blocked the sale of the property, indicating they might be interested in selling some day. But the decision to sell - evidently there are several attractive offers on the table - needs more study and should be dealt with by all the shareholders. Though the lawsuit was filed against Raymond Kirkland's brother, Jack, and his sisters Elizabeth Kirkland Holloway and Anna Kirkland, family members stress that it is not a personal matter.

Mr. Kirkland will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

[Last modified February 19, 2005, 00:57:17]