Calvin Lanier Obituary

LANIER, Calvin Dent died at his home in Spring Hill on his 92nd birthday on June 21, 2008, according to his son Richard of New York City. The son of Clyde and Myrtle Lanier, Lanier was born in Dade City, and moved to Brooksville in 1926. His wife of 45 years, Anne Lee Sewall of Brooksville, died in 1986; his stepson Andrew Williams died in 1952. After graduating from Hernando High School, Lanier established the L & L Furniture Company in Brooksville. The store soon became one of the towns most successful businesses, serving customers in Hernando, Citrus, and Pasco county customers for 6 decades. In 1957, Lanier was a founding member of the Board of Directors of the First Federal Savings and Loan Association of Brooksville, which was ultimately acquired by AmSouth Bank. He was also a founding partner of ARL & Wink, a real estate and development company. Lanier's many civic affiliations included a 4-year term as Chairman of the Hernando County School Board. He joined the Kiwanis Club in 1939, serving as President of the Brooksville chapter and as Lieutenant Governor of the Florida District. He was a 32nd Degree Mason, a Shriner, a founding member of the Brooksville Moose Lodge, a member of the International Order of Elks, and a Past President of the Brooksville Chamber of Commerce. An active supporter of Florida Governors Fuller Warren and George Smathers, Lanier ran his own hard-fought, but unsuccessful, campaign as a Democratic candidate for the Florida State Legislature in 1956. An avid golfer, Lanier was a charter member of the Brooksville Golf and Country Club. A well-known presence on local courses, he won several amateur tournaments. He especially enjoyed playing with friends such as David Merritt, Al Toler, Neil Law, Jr., U.S. Open winner Tommy Bolt, Tommy Bronson, Father Anthony D'Angelo and Father Robert Donlan of St. Anthony Catholic Church, where Lanier was a parishioner and generous benefactor. In addition to his son, Lanier is survived by his sisters Pola Kelly of Omega, GA, and Colleen Buss of Winter Garden, and by his granddaughter Marie of Falls Village, CT. Funeral Mass will be celebrated 10 am, Tuesday, June 24, at St. Anthony Catholic Church, Brooksville. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to St. Anthony Catholic Church. Arrangements by Merritt Funeral Home, Brooksville Chapel (352) 796-6699.

Published by Tampa Bay Times on Jun. 24, 2008.
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Richard,

Dent was an interesting guy.

I bought a radio from L & L Furniture one time when I was the manager of The Men's Quality Shop. I was paying Dent $20 a week. He let me take the radio home for just $20 down and the rest "on time." I loved that radio. On Fridays, Zeke Rogers would pay me for my week's works and I would the walk the block in front of the old courthouse over to the furniture store where he would always greet me from way in the back of the store somewhere with a booming, "Why, hello there, Sonny!" ... as if I was a long lost friend, and he would accept the payment with a great flurry of thanks and recognition of what a good customer I was.

Another time I heard him singing in latin at 2:00 in the afternoon in a small bar next to Louie's bowling alley . He was not inebriated. He was just singing church durges of some type in fluent and unhalting Latin over the din of the disconsonant bar sounds and was apparently very much enjoying the the fact that it was causing others there to question why they weren't at home as they should have been at that time of day. Frances Allen was there and asked me if we shouldn't offer to drive him home. I said, no, he was doing fine and those people in the bar needed to appreciate what was happening. Clearly he made it home soon thereafter because we went by the garage at the back of the house and his car was there parked safely inside.

He always made me feel important ... to him ... for which I was always grateful.

Go with happiness, Dent. You did good.

Emilio Vergara

Emilio Vergara

June 25, 2008

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