Boating warning went undeeded

A man, disabled and unable to swim, and his nephew drown.

By LINDA GIBSON and JACKIE RIPLEY

© St. Petersburg Times, published July 15, 2000

TAMPA -- James Bronson, disabled by heart disease and unable to swim, always waved off his family's warnings about fishing from a boat.

Several times a week, Bronson would climb into a boat with his nephew and favorite fishing buddy, Bob Nixon, for an afternoon on the water.

Nixon's father, Harry Nixon, warned his son that someday he might have to bring his uncle's body home.

Thursday afternoon, the family's fears came true in a way worse than anyone could have imagined.

Two other fishermen found the bodies of Bronson, 57, and Nixon, 45, floating in Lake Gass about 6:30 p.m. Nixon's 10-foot johnboat, overturned, floated nearby.

A medical examiner said Friday that both men drowned. How they ended up in the water may never be known.

They had left Bronson's house about 11 a.m. Thursday after having breakfast together, said Nixon's brother, Dale. He said it wasn't unusual for them to fish at several places in one day and late into the night.

About 5:30 p.m., the two asked someone at Northside Assembly of God on Lake Magdalene Boulevard if they could launch their boat into nearby Lake Gass, just north of Bearss Avenue.

An afternoon thunderstorm had already passed through, and the water was calm. Their bodies were found an hour later, the overturned boat nearby.

Nixon's family finds that strange since the johnboat is not prone to capsizing, and the two men would never stand in the boat, Dale Nixon said.

Friday afternoon, the boat sat in the back of Bronson's 1985 blue pickup truck, parked once again in his driveway on 151st Avenue in Lutz. Its cushions, paddles and trolling motor were missing, as was Bronson's cell phone.

Nixon, who lived on W Fern Street in Seminole Heights, was the oldest of four brothers. He graduated from Tampa Bay Technical High School and worked as an independent auto mechanic.

His brothers stayed nearby, moving no farther than Zephyrhills or Wesley Chapel.

He was especially close to his uncle.

Dale Nixon said his brother had been fishing since he was 2 or 3 years old, and knew how to swim. All the brothers hunted deer with bow and arrow and liked to fish. But Bob Nixon was considered the outdoorsman of the family.

With no wife or children, his passions in life were fishing, Gator football and his 2-year-old niece and 8-year-old nephew.

"He pretty much lived to fish," said his brother, Ray.

Bronson's family declined to comment.

- Linda Gibson can be reached at (813) 226-3382 or gibson@sptimes.com.

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