Richard ‘Rich’ Charles Eisert
Richard “Rich” Charles Eisert, 82, of Tampa and formerly of Bradenton Beach, died March 13. He was born and raised in Erie, Pa. He moved in 1989 to Anna Maria Island to manage his family’s guest house, “The Island Breeze.”
Mr. Eisert is survived by companion Ann Heath; daughters Caroline and husband Ted Salchak of Erie, Pa., and Manatee County, and Diane and husband Roland Vildostegui of Tampa; daughter Debbie Salchak of Clearwater; sons Rick and wife Paulette of Erie, Pa., and Douglas of Tampa; and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Walter J. Meesenburg
Walter J. Meesenburg, 82, of Holmes Beach, died March 12.
Mr. Meesenburg retired 20 years ago and commuted between his Holmes Beach and Wisconsin homes.
He loved playing tennis.
His friends and family held a celebration of life March 16.
He is survived by wife Giesela, sister Lisa Beesbensee of Mountain Home, Ark., sons Stuart of Nebraska, and Pete and Sven, both of the Chicago area.
Henry James Vaccari
Henry James Vaccari, 77, died March 16.
Mr. Vaccari was employed at Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority in Boston. He was a U.S. Army Korean War veteran. He was a member of the Bradenton Beach Moose Lodge and the American Legion of Somerville, Mass.
Service was to be held at 6 p.m. with rosary at 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 20, in the chapel at Covell Funeral Home, 4232 26th St. W., Bradenton. Memorial donations may be made to Tidewell Hospice, 5955 Rand Boulevard, Sarasota FL 34238.
Mr. Vaccari is survived by wife Jeanette “Jan”; son Richard; daughter Darlene Dwyer; six grandchildren; sisters Barbara Macaluso and Betty O’ Leary; and brother John.
Florence Marguerite Woodland
Florence Marguerite Woodland, 89, of Queensland, Australia, and formerly of Anna Maria, died Feb. 22. She was born Nov. 23, 1922, in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada.
She attended the Ontario College of Art in Toronto and served in the Canadian Air Force during World War II.
She married an Australian serviceman in 1943, Max Woodland, who was training in Canada during the war. They reunited in Australia and, later moved to Canada and started their family. They moved to Bermuda and lived there for about two years, before coming to the United States in 1953, and then to Anna Maria Island in
the mid-1950s
In the 1960s and ’70s, Mrs. Woodland owned the “Ports of Paradise” and “Spindrift” gift shops in Anna Maria and on Longboat Key. She was active in the Island Players as a makeup artist and a member of Roser Memorial Community Church in Anna Maria.
Mrs. Woodland moved to Queensland, Australia, in 1990. She embraced the Australian lifestyle and traveled extensively throughout Queensland. She also traveled New South Wales and Vanuatu. She was active in the Mooloolah Valley Social Club. She had a lifelong love of animals, always having a variety of cats, dogs and birds, and loved gardening.
Private memorials are planned at a later date in Australia and Florida.
Mrs. Woodland is survived by son Dale, city commissioner of Anna Maria; daughter Melanie Woodland Johnson of Bradenton; grandchildren Scott and Jason and Hunter, Travis and Cole Johnson; great-grandchildren Jordan and Savannah and Kara and Tanna Johnson; brother Francis Atkinson of Fredericton; half-sister Joyce Mowatt of Ontario; cousin Stephen Harper, presently Prime Minister of Canada; and numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins in Canada, Australia and England.