William F Ebsary

William Frederick Ebsary Senior left Earth on August 13th 2018 at the age of 95. He is survived by his children: W. F. “Casey” Ebsary, Jr. of Tampa; Kelly Andrea Ebsary of Joshua Tree California; his daughter-in-law Jodi Ann Baudean; his three grandchildren: Keyna Chinchilla-Herrera of Costa Rica; W.F. “Sonny” Ebsary, III of Tampa and Cora Lee Ebsary of Indian Shores, and step-children Albert Davis Lucas, Jr. of Tampa; R. Scott Lucas of Santa Cruz;

Bill was born in Toronto, Canada and immigrated to the United States in 1944, became a citizen, and certainly was a "Dreamer." Prior to leaving Canada, he helped build wooden De Havilland Mosquito bomber aircraft. He worked as an ambulance driver in World War II, a chemist for the City of Tampa, he participated in the leadership of the Tampa Little Theater, The Hillsborough County Crime Commission, The Young Democrats, The Chamber of Commerce, The Jaycees, and the Unitarian Universalist Church where he met his wife Hazel. After a whirlwind thirty-day romance and intense negotiations, he agreed to forgo sugar in his coffee, if his young bride agreed to change her party affiliation to Democrat and they married on July 6, 1957.

Bill and Hazel were pioneers in the restoration of their Hyde Park neighborhood and began renovations to their 1920’s Tampa home at 806 South Orleans Avenue in 1958. An architect at the time advised them that “he hoped they knew that they had purchased their home in an incipient slum area.” In 1974, their creative innovations and resplendent landscaping were featured in The Tampa Tribune.

He led his firm Ebsary, Pinholster, Nicholson and Associates for over 30 years as a Real Estate investor, Insurance Broker and Estate Planner and was a Senior Member of the Palma Ceia Golf and Country Club, the Davis Island Yacht Club, and The University Club. He was a member of the Sword and Shield, a group at the University of Tampa that supported building of the “Big Sombrero”, the original Tampa Stadium, home of his beloved University of Tampa Fighting Spartans football team.

He was a University of Tampa Trustee when he and two others first conceived of and funded a non-denominational Liberal Arts College Prep school on the grounds of the University of Tampa which became The Tampa Preparatory School of which he was a Founding Trustee. This legacy was one of his proudest achievements.

In 1988, the couple moved to their summer home, in the Town of Indian Shores where they both continued to be active in politics. A Celebration of his Life will be held Saturday October 6th, 2018 from 10:00 am - 11:30 am at the Indian Shores Municipal Center, 4th Floor Community Room at 19305 Gulf Boulevard in Indian Shores, Florida 33785.

His ashes have been intermingled with his beloved wife of sixty years, Hazel, and they will be interred at the family plot in De Funiak Springs, Florida. A donation to the Moffitt Cancer Center in his name will be appreciated instead of flowers.