David Lee Condon

David Lee Condon

Feb. 24, 1932 - July 4, 2022

SARASOTA, Florida - David Lee Condon, 90, lived a creative life with bursts of indulgence and small luxuries, always seeking beauty, trees, and if possible, a body of water. He died on July 4, 2022, at his home in Sarasota, FL.

He passed on a love of real estate, music, architecture, landscape design, gardening, renovation, travel and city planning.

His style was based on inclusion and acceptance - but without following anyone's rules. This led to many epic parties, with live music and great food, some planned in advance. He was an excellent cook - a roast in the oven, cigar in hand, Brubeck on the stereo, dish cloth over his shoulder, a pork soup burbling on the back, all the time in the world, and always with some kind of sauce in the works, James Beard style.

His advice to his kids: "Buy the lot next door. Walk the property at night. Everybody needs a warehouse. And don't get a job."

Condon, the youngest of five, was born to Edward and Marie Condon Feb. 24, 1932, in Decatur, IL. He was trained at Condon Real Estate with his dad and brothers, and studied Landscape Architecture and City Planning at University of Illinois.

Iconic homes he lived in or built include an Antebellum federalist house in Pennsylvania once on the Underground Railroad; apartments in Ponce, Puerto Rico and Concepcion, Chile; a five story 1909 mansion and a sand-blasted brick converted warehouse in Decatur; a custom purpleheart-mahogany masterpiece on St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands; an old-Florida wooden home with wraparound porch on Sarasota Bay; and a finally a funky eco-friendly sod roof bunker on five acres with a lovely duck pond in inland Sarasota, where he spent his last days with his family and golden retrievers.

After college he joined the Navy as an aircraft carrier pilot and visited the Arctic Circle and Thule, Greenland. In 1958, he married Ann Covington Howard - they had a great chapter traveling through Latin America with city planning consulting jobs, and had two kids, John and Sarah. In Decatur, he created the mental health facility Community Research Center and helped open the New School in the late 60s with a group of friends who enjoyed summer festivities at Shakamak Campground, on the Sangamon River, and beyond.

David wrote sweet cards, and kept up a long correspondence with his brother Ed Condon, also of Decatur, who died recently at age 101.

David married Joan Marie Fulk in 1979, celebrating with a "just married" sign on the back of the MG in the St. Patrick's Day parade culminating at their bar, Circa 1880, with a live Irish band. Joan and her three kids - Robin, Ray and Roy - created the much-loved Children's Garden in Sarasota. Joan and David's chemistry led to the opening of bars and restaurants that have become community icons: Alley Cats in Sarasota, Circa 1880 in Decatur, Inn at Tamarind Court on St. John.

He loved golf, newspapers and jazz - Kenton and Ferguson. His world-class indecision sometimes led him to miss a deal, which prompted decades of classic Irish remorse: "I could have had Gallows Point!"

We have all been enriched and will continue to be inspired by David's non-conforming innovation.

David is survived by wife Joan; John Condon (Lori) of Nashville; Sarah ,Condon Westneat (Danny) of Seattle; Robin Fulk (Kevin) of Sarasota; Ray Fulk of Tryon, North Carolina,;Roy Fulk of Bradenton, Florida; and eight grandkids.