DUNEDIN — Gerald "Jerry" Rehm's community advocacy started in the 1960s when he became one of the youngest mayors ever elected in the city. From there, it never really stopped.
Although he is best known for leading the charge to preserve Caladesi Island as a state park while the development boom paved over Old Florida, he also worked to improve the lives of foster children, spearheaded transportation projects as a state legislator, and saved a candy business that later made therapeutic mints for cancer patients.
Even in the weeks before he died from pancreatic cancer on March 10, his 90th birthday, Rehm was still working remotely for his alma mater, the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, as a consultant.
"When he was diagnosed, he was given the opportunity to have chemotherapy, but he turned it down because he didn't think he'd be able to work," said Charles Hill, former chairman of the academy's alumni association. "He made you pay attention. He'd call me once or twice a day, and he'd overwhelm you with information."
State Sen. Jack Latvala said he will back legislation this session to rename a portion of State Road 580 after Rehm, a nod to his work as a state representative in the 1980s to improve the thoroughfare.
"He was a hard-working guy who cared a lot about the community," Latvala said. "He was a consummate gentleman with work ethic."
Rehm grew up in West Palm Beach, starting his leadership young by hiring neighborhood kids to help his paper delivery route run efficiently, said son Scott Rehm.
He graduated from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, N.Y., in 1948, which prepared him for a diverse career. Over the years he worked as a contract manager for Sperry Rand in Oldsmar, set up youth camps for the the Eckerd Family Foundation, brought a candy factory from New Jersey to Clearwater and brokered real estate.
He got hooked on local politics in 1963 when he was appointed to fill a vacancy on the Dunedin City Commission, and became one of the youngest elected officials in history when he was elected mayor at age 38 in 1964, serving three terms.
Rehm led a master planning process for the city but also cemented his legacy in the preservation of Caladesi Island. It took intense negotiations with 23 landowners to secure the land for state designation, but something he accomplished with his trusting and competent demeanor, Scott Rehm said.
"He sold the story that this was something bigger than all of us and convinced them to sell their land at half the appraised value," he said. "Being such a young guy and thinking such ahead of his time from an environmental conservation perspective was what saved hundreds of acres of raw beach for generations to come."
Rehm raised his three children in Dunedin and served as a Republican state senator from 1981 to 1984 and as a state representative from 1986 to 1990. After politics, he focused full time on real estate and launched the Florida Candy Factory in 1984 when he bought the Angel Mint company from a struggling New Jersey outlet.
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Explore all your optionsNow run by Scott Rehm, the business produces about 30,000 mints a day in its Lakeview Road factory and sells in more than 3,000 hospital gift shops across the country for their palliative effect.
In the early 2000s, he worked with the late U.S. Rep. C.W. Bill Young to secure funding for the Merchant Marine Academy's failing infrastructure.
The school hired him as a public affairs consultant in 2011, and he tried to warn Congress the academy was being mismanaged, which was later verified last year when its accreditation was sanctioned.
"He told Congress that there's a major problem, that there needed to be a change," Hill said.
Scott Rehm said even as a child, he always knew public service was his father's calling, but realized as an adult how selfless that advocacy was.
"As a kid, I somewhat resented it because he did so much for so many other people," Scott Rehm said. "I don't remember him ever throwing a baseball in the backyard as a kid, but I see how he was called to do so much more than just be a dad or a husband. I truly think he left the world far better than he found it. He made a difference in our little piece of the world."
Contact Tracey McManus at tmcmanus@tampabay.com or (727) 445-4151. Follow @TroMcManus.