Frederick B Matthews

MATTHEWS, Frederick (Fred), age 94, passed peacefully into the arms of our Lord at home Friday, December 18. He was born in Ware, MA, son of Everett and Veronica Matthews. He was married and devoted to his wife of 61 years. He is survived by his wife Barbara, sons Michael (Karen), John and David, his daughter Susan (Lance), grandchildren Carolyn (Jerel) and Liam, and his brother John Matthews (Meriam). Fred was preceded in death by his father Everett, his mother Vera and his sisters, RoseMarie and Patricia. A devoted Catholic, he was a long time member of St Lawrence Catholic Church and worked with his close friend Monsignor Laurence Higgins on numerous endeavors.

Fred was the epitome of a “people person” – he treated everyone with dignity and respect. He always had a smile and a kind word for everyone and knew the names of everyone that worked for him in any capacity. He was devoted to his family, always placing their needs before his own. He was our rock. His loss cannot be measured in words.

Fred served in the U.S. Army near the end of World War II and received a degree from Holy Cross College in Worcester MA. He spent his career in the hotel industry, working in Boston, Washington D.C., and Miami before moving to Dunedin from Rochester NY in 1969 and later to Tampa as General Manager of the new Manger Motor Inn in downtown Tampa.

He quickly became a leader in the Tampa business community, serving on the Committee of 100 and was one of the visionaries that laid the foundation for the Gasparilla Sidewalk Arts Festival. As the President of the Harbor Hotel Corporation and General Manager of the Bay Harbor Inn on Rocky Point Island, he soon made the Bay Harbor Inn the home base for nearly every major sports franchise visiting Tampa. From football to baseball to soccer, they chose his hotel year after year.

He knew everyone from Elvis to Evel Knievel to Casey Stengel and even walked through Lafayette Park in Washington DC with President Truman on his way to work one morning.

Husband, father, grandfather and friend. He will be missed beyond measure.

A funeral Mass will be held at St. Lawrence Catholic Church – funeral and burial arrangements are pending.