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Friends remember bar owner, girlfriend

The couple died Thursday after the man crashed his motorcycle while riding across Indian Rocks Bridge.

By LORRI HELFAND
Published April 8, 2006

SEMINOLE - The sign taped on the door of 1 More Time bar said, "Due to Death Closed until further notice."

And across the street at the Army Navy Union club, more than a dozen patrons gathered around two tables, sipping beers, smoking cigarettes and sharing stories about 1 More Time owner Larry Brawner and his girlfriend, Jeanette Trowbridge.

The couple died in a collision about 5 p.m. Thursday as they rode Brawner's 2005 Harley-Davidson across the Indian Rocks Bridge.

"He loved his girlfriend. He loved his car. He loved his bike and he loved his bar," said Brawner's friend Bryan Gordon, 45.

Gordon said 55-year-old Brawner confided to him that 48-year-old Jeanette, who worked as a receptionist at Sun Coast Hospital, was his "true love."

"When she wasn't working, she was by his side," Gordon said.

Brawner also liked to crack jokes and pamper his 1966 powde r- blue Corvette, said Brawner's bar manager, Melanie Pantall, 37.

"He loved to make light of any situation he could," Pantall said.

Crying and clutching a picture of the couple, Pantall said Brawner was like a brother to her. Just Thursday, she said, Brawner fronted her $200 so she could fix her truck.

"He treated all of his customers like family," Pantall said. "I keep wishing for the door to pop open and for him to come in here."

About five years ago, Brawner opened a bar called Just 1 More at 9919 Seminole Blvd. A few years later, he opened 1 More Time at 10710 Walsingham Road, and shortly after that, he sold Just 1 More.

Friend Lee Arnold said Brawner's new bar was really starting to catch on.

"Everything was going so good for him," said Arnold, 49.

Brawner, who came to the area in 1957, graduated from Seminole High School in 1968 and attended St. Petersburg Junior College.

An Army veteran, Brawner flew medical helicopters to rescue wounded soldiers during the Vietnam War. He was injured, having hurt his back in a crash, said his brother Stephen Brawner of Seminole.

When he returned home, Brawner worked in his brother's construction business for a while. Then he worked for Home Depot for about eight years.

Besides brother Stephen, Brawner's survivors include his mother, Betty Brawner of Largo, a daughter, Barbara Brawner of Seminole, and two sisters, Janet Thomas, Pawnee, Ill., and Carol O'Bourke of Tennessee.

Stephen Brawner said Trowbridge is survived by three sons.

Investigators said the crash occurred when Brawner attempted to overtake a 1999 Jaguar on a curve near the west end of the bridge.

Brawner then lost control of the motorcycle, which veered into a concrete curb and concrete railing on the bridge. Brawner and Trowbridge were ejected from the motorcycle. Neither was wearing a helmet.

The investigation continues, but deputies say no charges are expected against the driver of the Jaguar, Mary Rainey, 62, of St. Petersburg.

--Lorri Helfand can be reached at 445-4155 or at lorri@sptimes.com

[Last modified April 8, 2006, 00:33:16]