Brett Steven ‘Bigs’ Fortenberry
Brett Steven “Bigs” Fortenberry, 59, of Holmes Beach, died Aug. 2.
His story began Oct. 10, 1961, when he was born, the middle child of Joe and Harriett of Charlotte, North Carolina. He grew up in Charlotte and made many lifelong friends.
He attended West Charlotte High School, Elon University and Cape Fear Tech Marine.
In 1984, he become involved with the Sarasota Dolphin Research Program and through their love of these amazing animals, he met the love of his life, Pam, a dolphin trainer.
Many adventures later, they moved to Anna Maria Island in 1987 to become more involved in the dolphin studies.
In 1991, the light of their lives was born, their son Andrew.
Mr. Fortenberry owned Stem to Stern Boat Care, where he was known to help customers in many more ways than detailing their boats.
He also is remembered as a favorite Domino’s Pizza delivery driver for more than 30 years.
He was funny, compassionate, generous, reliable.
He loved his family, coaching youth leagues, mentoring local kids, friends, plants, his boat, the Florida Keys and Bud Light.
And he hated golf carts.
Islanders always knew where to take their sick plants — to Brett’s Jungle.
A celebration of life will be 6-8 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 12, on the beach near 77th Street in Holmes Beach. The family asks people to remember Mr. Fortenberry’s legacy and perform random acts of kindness.
He is survived by wife, Pam; son Andrew and wife Mackenzie of Holmes Beach; father Joe of Bradenton; brother Mark of Charlotte, North Carolina; sister Lisa of Raleigh, North Carolina; nephews and nieces; grandnephews and grandnieces; and his feral cats and two dogs, Puppers and Roscoe.
William Eugene ‘Gene’ Page III
Gene Page IV was piloted from Holmes Beach aboard a neighbor’s boat May 10, 1980, and raced to the Skyway Bridge to record the scene of the disaster from the waters of Tampa Bay. He gave his negatives from that day to The Islander on the 40th anniversary of the disaster.
William Eugene “Gene” Page III, 82, of Bradenton, died Aug. 15.
He was born Jan. 5, 1939, in Columbus, Georgia, the only child of William Eugene Jr. and Martha Elizabeth (Hogan).
The Pages moved to Bradenton in 1946, as his father assumed leadership of the Bradenton Herald.
As a second-grader at Ballard Elementary School, he patrolled the school playground and Wares Creek Bridge sidewalk, forging cherished friendships that would last for the next 75 years.
He followed his father, grandfather and great-grandfather into the family newspaper business on a delivery route by the age of 9. On Saturdays, after collecting along his route and paying his bill at the Herald, he hustled to join his friends over at the State Theatre, where 9 cents would buy a youngster “a double feature — always Westerns – two serials and five cartoons.” He was a Boy Scout who treasured the carefree times spent at Camp Flying Eagle.
As a teenager, he learned to play golf with his father’s left-handed clubs, earning a spot on the varsity team at Manatee County High School. Weekends might have found him at the Teen Club or downtown Boys Club. He spent summers in Columbus, working at the Ledger and Enquirer newspapers. After graduating high school in 1957, Gene attended Stetson University, where he joined the brotherhood of Sigma Nu fraternity, a legacy through his father. He transferred to Florida State University and graduated in 1962, having represented both universities in varsity golf. He also attended Columbia University and the University of South Carolina for graduate studies in newspaper management and journalism.
He next joined a three-year training program to prepare him for his career as a publisher. He spent a year each in Charlotte, North Carolina, at the Charlotte Observer and Charlotte News; in Columbia, South Carolina, with the Columbia State and Columbia Record; and in Greenville, South Carolina, with the Greenville News and Greenville Piedmont. Returning to Bradenton, he worked to facilitate better relationships and understanding between local law enforcement and the media, riding along with many officers of the Florida Highway Patrol and photographing news events. He served as comptroller and assistant publisher of the Bradenton Herald until the business was sold to Knight Newspapers in 1975.
After the sale, Mr. Page began a commercial photography business, Photographic Infinity, winning numerous awards for his work. He also worked as a photojournalist for newspapers, including the Bradenton Herald, St. Petersburg Times, Sarasota Herald-Tribune and The Islander on Anna Maria Island.
He was one of the first news photographers on the scene to document rescue and recovery operations at the Sunshine Skyway Bridge disaster in May 1980 from a friend’s boat in Holmes Beach.
Over the years, his patient mentorship empowered many people to pursue professions based in photography.
At midlife, he went into real estate sales, working the next three decades and ultimately becoming a vice president at Scholfield Realty in Bradenton.
Beginning in the early 1980s, he was a familiar sight at high school football games, where he lugged his 400mm telephoto lens and other gear, lumberjack-like down the sidelines — a sure sign you were attending the biggest game in the area.
With his “camera buddies” in tow, Mr. Page would hit the road on Friday afternoons for football adventures, from Pensacola to Miami. Having honed his craft in the era of manual rewind and darkrooms, he adapted to technology, providing game coverage to his community and lifelong memories to the young people he loved to watch compete.
He was a coach by nature. He loved discussing and teaching the intricacies of the golf swing. He read many books about swing mechanics, but “Five Lessons” by Ben Hogan — a cousin on his mother’s side — was a favorite. He never stopped playing golf.
He was a tireless, unapologetic advocate for equality in women’s sports and in life, a dynamic force to be reckoned with when he sensed that some girls’ opportunities were limited. He coached his children in Little League baseball and softball and photographed countless games in locations all over the United States, always endearing himself to his children’s teammates. He continued to encourage his children into their adult lives, in their careers and their experiences as wives, mothers, husbands or fathers, even photographing their weddings and providing job recommendations for their friends. He never stopped pulling for their success and happiness.
He was a deeply committed Christian, having photographed untold numbers of baptisms, baby dedications, musicals, special presentations, youth functions, and community events, documenting with creativity and elegance some of the most precious moments in people’s lives.
He believed in prayer and put his skills to work by developing an email group he called the “Prayer Warriors.” The group of more than 100 people across the country enabled prayer and updates for dozens of people facing uncertainty, grief and loss. In these and many other ways, he lived out his favorite Bible verse, which became the mission statement of his life: “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into Heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.”
Mr. Page lived a life unmistakably marked by love, inexhaustibly expressed through his tireless encouragement and unconditional acceptance of others. An empathetic and honest man of deep loyalty, he made true and lasting friends out of the people he met, from every walk of life and at every stage of his life. His tender heart had an especially soft place for lonely children in difficult circumstances.
For all he cheerfully gave to others, he drew his greatest joys from time spent with those closest to him: his wife, children, grandchildren and extended family. Endlessly devoted to them, he was never happier than when photographing everyone together at a holiday or summertime gathering.
He loved to laugh. With a twinkle in his eye and a suspicious, playful grin that often gave him away, he was always up to something — silly jokes, games, pranks — anything he thought might make his loved ones smile.
He was adored by his family, “steadfastly fixed in our hearts, his wonderful legacy of kindness, compassion and service to others a simple but sufficient testament to a beautiful life exceptionally lived, until the soul-restoring day we are reunited with him again.”
A memorial service and visitation were held Aug. 21 at First Baptist Church of Palmetto. Memorial donations may be made to Guardian Angels of Southwest Florida (guardianangelsfl.org/change-the-life-of-a-child), or First Baptist Church of Palmetto. Condolences may be made to brownandsonsfuneral.com.
Mr. Page is survived by his wife of 47 years, Gina Ann (Romine); his children, William Eugene IV and wife Kim of Micanopy; Edwin Robson and wife Natalee of Roanoke, Virginia; Jennifer Page Foster and husband Chris of Auburn, Alabama; Kelly Page Powell and husband Justin of Bradenton; and Michael Cory and wife Sarah of Bradenton; grandchildren William Eugene V and wife Ana, Carter Elizabeth, Madeleine Elise Foster, Ella Katherine Foster, Maisie Waters, Owen Waters, Anna Caroline Foster, Paxton Thomas Powell, Presley Elizabeth Powell, Cory O’Connor, Henley Van and Finten William; and a precious host of loved ones whose treasured friendships immensely blessed him over the course of his life.