Family, friends remember Nunn
By Lisa Neff. Islander Reporter
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| Pat and Keith Mathews help people pen their remembrances of Edward F. "Skip" Nunn Jr. Islander Photo: Lisa Neff |
Yellow legal pads were set on the table for friends, family and co-workers to sign and leave remembrances of Edward F. "Skip" Nunn Jr.
For the dozens of people who attended the Celebration of Life held Feb. 14 for Nunn, the Holmes Beach public works foreman who died Feb. 9, the legal pads needed no explanation.
"Skip did everything on legal pads," said Mary Maki, one of Nunn’s sisters. She smiled at her recollections.
"Everything he wrote, he wrote on these pads," said Pat Mathews, Nunn’s friend of more than 30 years.
Mathews and her husband, Keith, helped people sign the pads with remembrances and tributes during the celebration on the Anna Maria City Pier, where he was a regular.
"Wonderful people," Mathews said of Nunn and his wife, Ginny.
Nunn, 63, was born in Ithaca, N.Y., and grew up in the Finger Lakes region near Trumansburg, N.Y. He moved to Holmes Beach in 1975 and was hired in the Holmes Beach public works department in 1976. Nunn also served as a reserve officer in the Holmes Beach Police Department until May 2001.
"Everybody knew Skip," said Holmes Beach resident Quint Colfax. "His circle of friends was a big one."
Nunn’s wife, Ginny, dressed in red for Valentine’s Day, moved through the crowd, thanking people for attending and listening to their stories and thoughts about her husband.
So co-workers could attend, Holmes Beach City Hall closed at 1 p.m. Elected officials also attended, including Holmes Beach Mayor Rich Bohnenberger and former mayor and Manatee County Commissioner Carol Whitmore.
Bohnenberger chuckled as he thought of Nunn and the obituary he wrote for himself. Nunn, he said, was an unforgettable character, the kind of person one might find profiled in the Reader’s Digest tribute to the inspirational and legendary.
To the left and right of the mayor, people fondly began their sentences, "Do you remember when Skip…."
On the table with the legal pads was a city plaque commemorating Nunn for more than 20 years of service. He was awarded the plaque just a week before his death following a brief illness.
Nunn is survived by his wife of 33 years, Virginia "Ginny"; daughter Monica Van Handel of Bradenton; son Stephen of Howardsville, Va.; mother Carol of Holmes Beach; sisters Mary Maki and her husband Raymond of Newtown, Conn., and Michelle Jackson and her husband Dan of New Milford, Conn.; granddaughter Amanda Van Handel of Bradenton; two nieces; two nephews; first wife and mother of his children Dianne Tymeson and her husband Bruce of Bradenton; and loving cat Matilda.
Contributions in Nunn’s memory may be made to American Diabetes Association, 4902 Eisenhower Blvd., Suite 295, Tampa FL 33634; the Kidney Foundation, 1040 Woodcock Road, Suite 119, Orlando FL 32803-3510; or the Anna Maria Island Community Center, P.O. Box 253, Anna Maria FL 34216. |
