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Spicola, lawyer for city, county and governor

By MICHAEL A. MOHAMMED
Published January 30, 2007

TAMPA - Joseph G. Spicola Jr., a man whose legal skill led him to a wide range of offices in Tampa, Hillsborough and Florida government, died Sunday night Jan. 28, 2007 surrounded by family in his Davis Islands home.

He was 75.

Mr. Spicola became Hillsborough County's first public defender in the early 1960s. He also served as county attorney, Tampa city attorney and general counsel to Gov. Bob Martinez.

Martinez and Mr. Spicola became friends at Hillsborough High School, where Mr. Spicola was an all-state football quarterback, according to his eldest son, Joseph A. Spicola.

There, the coach nicknamed Mr. Spicola "Little Toot" because he was the smallest player on the team. He snagged a scholarship to play for the University of Florida Gators but suffered a career-ending injury in the preseason.

Still, he remained a Gators fan. Though gravely ill when the team won the NCAA championship this month, he stayed up to watch the whole game.

Then he stayed up another hour so he could watch the initially skeptical commentators "eat crow," his son said.

"Dad ate and breathed Florida football," his son said.

An avid outdoorsman, Mr. Spicola loved taking his sons on hunting and fishing trips as they grew up.

"Almost every weekend we were out doing something outdoors," his elder son said.

Mr. Spicola's career was blemished in 1991, while he served as the Martinez-appointed attorney for the Tampa Port Authority. The state Ethics Commission recommended he be fined $10,000, the maximum punishment, for shunting nearly $70,000 of work to his own law firm.

Instead, the port board, which holds enforcement authority, chose to fine him $500.

He is survived by his wife, Sydney Allen Spicola; two sons, Joseph A. and Jeff; and three grandchildren.

Blount & Curry Funeral Home on S MacDill Avenue is handling the arrangements.

Michael A. Mohammed can be reached at mmohammed@sptimes.com or (813) 226-3404.

[Last modified January 30, 2007, 06:17:46]