Advertisement

Top officials heap praise on for retiring county employee

 
Hillsborough County Commission Chairman Lesley “Les’’ Miller Jr. presents Jarvis Glover with a proclamation declaring Jarvis Glover Day in the county last month.
Hillsborough County Commission Chairman Lesley “Les’’ Miller Jr. presents Jarvis Glover with a proclamation declaring Jarvis Glover Day in the county last month.
Published Feb. 4, 2016

TAMPA — Jarvis Glover, who for years served as the driver for Hillsborough County commissioners, had a nickname for Commissioner Sandra Murman.

He called her "Baby Girl.''

"Jarvis, yeah. I've been your baby girl,'' Murman said during a crowded retirement party for Glover after 40 years with the county. "And at my age, if anybody calls you 'Baby Girl,' that's really special.''

U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, a former county commissioner, is known to Glover as "Kat.''

"He'd yell — from blocks away — Kat,'' Castor said, before announcing she would enter a tribute to Glover in the Congressional Record.

Commission Chairman Lesley "Les'' Miller Jr., called "Coach'' and "Doc'' by Glover, said the honoree is so popular that during the recent Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade, Miller was tossing beads to the crowd while everyone was calling out the name of the guy driving the car.

"I started to tell Jarvis, you get back here,'' Miller said, as his audience laughed. "Everybody knows Jarvis.''

"He had a name for me,'' said Commissioner Victor Crist. "My name is, 'Hurry-up.' He'd call me in the morning: 'You're not here yet? Hurry up.' Then, before hanging up, he would say, 'Love you, brother.' ''

Scores of co-workers, family and friends packed into the County Center's 26th floor conference rooms last week for the celebration. Miller read a proclamation declaring the day, Jan. 27, as Jarvis Glover Day. On hand was a sizeable contingent from the neighborhood where Glover, 61, has lived all his life. There, they call him, "the mayor of Port Tampa.''

Interviewed prior to the ceremony, as fans turned him this way and that for hugs and handshakes, Glover expressed surprise at the scale of the celebration. "This is wonderful,'' he said quietly, seemingly in awe. Asked the secret to his popularity, the deeply religious man said, "That's the Lord; that's Jesus.''

The county hired Glover in 1975 to mow the grass at its wastewater treatment plant. Eventually, he became the first county "mailman,'' delivering interoffice mail among Hillsborough's government facilities.

The late County Administrator Frederick B. Karl, whose vision was impaired, recruited Glover as his driver in the early 1990s.

Glover ends his career as driver and courier for Hillsborough County commissioners. Officially assigned to the Communications and Digital Media team, he also assists the county public affairs team on special events.

Throughout, his effervescence infected those who came to know him — practically everyone in county government. His first supervisor, Gene Gray, said he laughed when he saw the party invitation, which called Glover, "The Man, the Myth, the Legend.''

"As long as I've known Jarvis, he's always been larger than life.'' Gray said.

He called Glover "the most upbeat and positive person I've ever known.''

Murman called him "a healer,'' telling him, "You bring people together.''

Keep up with Tampa Bay’s top headlines

Subscribe to our free DayStarter newsletter

We’ll deliver the latest news and information you need to know every morning.

You’re all signed up!

Want more of our free, weekly newsletters in your inbox? Let’s get started.

Explore all your options

Crist called him "the biggest ball of love I've ever met in my life.''

County Administrator Mike Merrill called him "a wonderful ambassador'' for the county.

Merrill, who arrived near the end of the ceremony, said, "I apologize for being late. I was in the human resource department applying for Jarvis' job.''

That, apparently, is the key to getting such a grand retirement reception, Merrill joked.

Longtime friend and retired county engineer Jerry Taylor, known to Glover and no one else as "Bubba,'' ended his talk by strumming a guitar and singing Happy Trails. The audience joined in.

"I want to thank each and every one for coming out today on a rainy day,'' Glover told the crowd. "That's the Lord shining down on me, putting down his tears of joy for me.''

Contact Philip Morgan at pmorgan@tampabay.com or (813) 226-3435.