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A former mayor, a university founder, community leaders and law enforcement officers died.
By CARY DAVIS, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times, published December 29, 2001
Pasco County lost a little of its leadership, heroism, pioneering spirit and color in 2001.
We mourned the deaths of a former mayor, a professor who once served as a county commissioner, a small-town postmaster who doubled as fire chief, a university founder, beloved teachers, a political gadfly, brothers from a founding family and two of Pasco's finest.
Verle Johnson had been a Sheriff's Office patrol deputy in central Pasco for less than three months when he was killed in an off-duty car accident on May 29. He was 22. He joined the Sheriff's Office in September 2000 and graduated from the law enforcement academy at Pasco-Hernando Community College in March.
He had just gotten off work at 4 a.m. and was on his way home to Sumter County when he pulled out in front of a semitrailer truck on U.S. 98 in Trilby.
Detective Harvey "Butch" Hillis, a 13-year member of the Zephyrhills Police Department, was killed, along with his wife, in a hit-and-run wreck on June 9. Mr. Hillis was 46. His wife, Donna, was 33. The pickup truck that hit their Chevrolet Blazer just south of Zephyrhills fled the scene.
But crash witnesses pursued the truck until it stopped, and the driver of the pickup and a passenger were arrested. Mr. Hillis' colleagues remembered him as a hard worker who once saved an infant using CPR.
John Durney served as mayor of Port Richey from 1967 to 1975 and was a key figure in the city's early development. He also served as mayor of New Port Richey from 1978 to 1980, advocating for the widening of U.S. 19 and the dredging of the Pithlachascotee River. He worked for 44 years as an executive with Suburban Propane before his retirement in 1983. He spent much of his retirement life writing poetry and doing volunteer work at the Salvador Dali Museum in St. Petersburg. Mr. Durney died Oct. 13 in a motorcycle accident in New York. He was 84.
James "Doc" Hollingsworth, a college professor, outspoken conservative and onetime county commissioner, died June 13 after battling prostate cancer. He was 70. Dr. Hollingsworth served as county commissioner from 1980 to 1984, bringing stability to a government rocked by the bribery conviction of fellow board member Barry Doyle. Always one to speak his mind, Dr. Hollingsworth made his biggest impression as a political science professor at Pasco-Hernando Community College. Not everybody shared his conservative philosophy, which was grounded in his mastery of the Constitution. But nobody questioned his integrity or his intellect.
In February, New Port Richey mourned the death of Frank Janczlik Sr., who had the distinction of running for office 18 times -- and never winning. But that never stopped him from showing up at New Port Richey City Council meetings and airing his opinions. A colorful figure, Mr. Janczlik was known in his later years for his rambling diatribes about desalination and his belief that council members were ignorant on the subject. His last run for office, in 1999, was his most successful: He got 7 percent of the vote. He died Feb. 5 at age 86.
Frank J. Hill Jr. served as the postmaster of San Antonio from 1950 until his retirement in 1982. He also served as the town's volunteer fire chief for 36 years. The town's fire department was named in his honor. Mr. Hill died Sept. 30. He was 80.
East Pasco lost another fixture of the community when Stephen Herrmann died July 8. He was 83. Mr. Herrmann was credited with creating the modern Saint Leo University. He began his career in 1941 as a residence counselor for what was then Saint Leo College Preparatory School. He rose to headmaster, then served as registrar when the school became a two-year junior college in 1959. He was president of the school from 1961 to 1968 as it evolved into a four-year university.
Two Pasco County school teachers died unexpectedly this year.
Peter Rohrbacher, a longtime vocational teacher at Hudson Middle School, suffered a heart attack at a car show and died May 1. Mr. Rohrbacher, a car enthusiast who drove a Corvette, starting teaching at Pasco schools in 1974. In the beginning, he taught students about engines and industrial arts. As those fields faded from public schools, Mr. Rohrbacher began teaching about technology and computers. He taught school on the day he died. He was 56.
Just before classes started back in the fall, a second-grade teacher at Mittye P. Locke Elementary School died of a blood clot. Henry Mueller Jr. was just 35 when he died on Aug. 4. Mr. Mueller was a police officer in St. Petersburg before he became a teacher. He taught at Locke for a year.
Brothers Albert and Johnnie DeCubellis, sons of one of Pasco County's founding families, died this year. Albert DeCubellis died May 7 at age 79. Johnnie DeCubellis died Nov. 7 at age 75. The brothers grew up on the family's farm just east of Little Road. Back then, the family used a team of oxen to get around. Today, the family farm is bisected by DeCubellis Road.