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Two deaths investigated on island in past few weeks

■ BY MARCY SHORTUSE The island was the locale for two deaths in the past few weeks, and both deaths were of relatively young individuals. On Monday, Nov. 18 at 8:46 p.m., the Boca Grande Fire Department and Lee County EMS, as well as the Lee County Sheriff’s Department, responded to a call concerning a […]

Causeway approved, toll system upgrade nearing completion

■ STAFF REPORT The new right-of-way discussed and voted on by the Gasparilla Island Bridge Authority Board in April of this year is moving forward, and it was discussed at the organization’s quarterly board meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 19.                       In April the board voted […]

Obituary: Helen Fricke Mathieson

Helen Fricke Mathieson died peacefully at home on November 13, 2019. She was born in Bryn Mawr, Pa. on December 7, 1929 to John Fricke and Henrietta Walter Fricke, and attended the Shipley School, graduating in 1948. She matriculated to Connecticut College. Graduating in 1952, Helen later served ten years as a trustee of the […]

Obituary: Patrick J. Cunningham

Patrick J. Cunningham of Boca Grande passed away November 18, 2019. He was born on May 29, 1934 to John and Deborah (O’Connor) Cunningham of Pittsburgh, PA. Patrick graduated from St. Vincent’s College, Latrobe, PA in 1956 and attained an MBA from the University of Chicago. He served in the Army and afterwards joined Westinghouse […]

Operation Second Chance offers wounded veterans new adventures

■ BY SUE ERWIN For the past two years, Kathy and Dave Irwin have been organizing and hosting events for disabled veterans through Operation Second Chance. Kathy and Dave live in Silver King condominiums on the island. They learned about the nonprofit organization when they attended a fundraiser a few years ago, and they were so […]

Obituary: Leonard Mathew Saari

Leonard Mathew Saari of Riverside, CT, and Boca Grande, FL, died as a result of a sudden stroke on October 19. 2019, at Greenwich Hospital.  He was born in Los Angeles, CA, on January 19, 1938, to Mathew A. Saari, originally from Raahe, Finland, and Esther E. Saari, originally from Tampere, Finland. Raised in Baltimore, […]

Gasparilla Island number one town on richest.com

■ BY MARCY SHORTUSE Boca Grande has made yet another list recently, in a slightly more obscure niche market. A website called The Richest (therichest.com) compiled a list of the top 10 richest towns in Florida. Their qualifiers included the reported income of the residents and the overall time the residents were in their Florida […]

Port Charlotte man dead after boating accident off Three Sisters

■ STAFF REPORT On Sunday, Oct. 13 at approximately 11:30 a.m., the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) received a report from the United States Coast Guard of a vessel taking on water in Charlotte Harbor near Devilfish Key, east of Boca Grande. FWC, Lee County Sheriff’s Office, Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office and Fire […]

Obituary: Richard S. Cuda

Richard Sebastian Cuda of Boca Grande and East Orleans, Mass. died peacefully at home surrounded by his family on Thursday, October 10, 2019, two months shy of his 87th birthday. Known to friends as Dick and to family as Pops, he was a loving husband, father, and grandfather, talented entrepreneur and philanthropist, and enthusiastic fisherman, […]