Frank Fish (1912-1995)
Photographer, Environmentalist, Public Servant
In the 1960s, he seemed to show up everywhere around Brooksville. During my high school years, I spotted him on the sidelines of every Hernando Leopards football game that I can remember. I saw him at the school baseball and basketball games, too. And he was there quietly behind the scenes at the county fairs, town meetings, baby and beauty contests, homecoming parades, and even my high school commencement exercises. He rarely missed a public event.
Everyone around Brooksville knew Frank Fish.
In 1962, he was 50 years old and immersed in the love of photography. He never seemed to go anywhere without a camera in hand, ready for that next photo. He had a photography studio on Hwy 41, yet he was happiest on the street doing freelance work. His snapshots were frequently published in the Tampa Tribune and the Brooksville Sun Journal. He also assisted the local Highway Patrol by taking automobile photos. Fish was on the scene of many car accidents and covered many house fires.
After high school graduation, I rarely paid attention to Frank Fish’s career or gave it much thought. However, it was during the 1970s and 1980s that he made his mark in Hernando County. Newman Franklin Fish, shortened to Frank Fish, was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, on November 27, 1912. He completed three years of college and spent some time in Georgia and Tennessee.
In 1937, he strayed on the wrong side of the law and was arrested for theft of a private auto, some tools, and equipment. Since he wasn’t alone in the escapade, I think it was just a case of the wrong place and the wrong time. He made restitution.
In 1940, Frank Fish moved to Tampa. He knew sheet metal work and hoped to find a job at the shipyards during WWII. In 1943, he registered for the draft but was never called to duty. It turned out that he had found a job with Bryn-Alan Studios. Their name was synonymous with family portraits, and they were well known for their high school yearbook photos. He worked for them from 1940-1945 and learned the basics of good photography. His job included formulating photography chemicals, something that came in handy later in his own home photography studio.
By the time he turned 30, Frank Fish believed he’d be a confirmed bachelor for life. He knew quite a bit about women, though, and was raised in a household with five sisters. His life changed when he met a Tampa woman named Ruby Blevins. He knew she was the one he’d been waiting for. They were married on November 22, 1944. He was 32 at the time, and she was 48, sixteen years his senior. She was also twice divorced and had three step-children from a previous marriage. Fish not only became a happily married man but became an instant father to Kenneth (24), Gloria (17), and Edwin (12).
In 1945, they all moved to Hernando County for health and family reasons. Fish spent the next fifteen years managing his brother-in-law’s 500-acre cattle ranch located near Brooksville. It was on north Hwy 41 in the rural community of Lake Lindsey. The large property was called Aman Ranch, after Ruby’s family.
In 1958, Ruby and Frank Fish opened a photography studio and lived on 12 acres of ranch property on North Hwy 41. They worked the business together until the late 1960’s when Ruby developed arthritis. Ruby quit photography and found a new interest in painting using brushes and oils. Artwork became her therapy for combating painful arthritis. With professional lessons, Ruby excelled and even won awards at local shows for her artwork.
In the late 1960s, Frank Fish became interested in town government. He had two unsuccessful bids for county commissioner and lost races in 1964 and 1968 to opponent Murray Grubbs of District 1. However, when Grubbs moved to District 2 in 1972, he convinced Fish to give politics another try.
Grubb’s suggestion for “one more time” began Fish’s 16-year career in county government. Frank Fish was a Hernando County Commissioner from 1972-1988. He served four terms in all. Only two other individuals can claim longer tenure as Hernando County commissioners of the 20th century. They are John Law Ayers (1932-1952) and J. P. Mills (1935-1952).
So, what do county commissioners do for us?
First, they are elected officials representing specific geographic districts in their home county. Second, a Board of County Commissioners is usually made up of a team of five. Each individual is elected to a four-year term with the option of reelection. The Florida Constitution doesn’t set term limits for county commissioners.
The county commissioners wear many hats. They’re responsible for policies, budgets, managing county properties, and addressing current issues. They do all this while keeping an ever-watchful eye towards the future.
Frank Fish was the first commissioner to run on an environmental platform. He was concerned about protecting our natural beauty and didn’t want to see it destroyed by growth. He promoted countywide recreational activities and improvements for all. He fought for new parks, fishing, boating, camping, and swimming opportunities. Fish wanted to protect our water rights, stop pollution, and attract clean industry. He was also an advocate for better facilities for all, especially for senior citizens and the handicapped.
He is known for the establishment of Kennedy Park in south Brooksville. He was also instrumental in having the Deltona Corporation donate 20 acres towards a future park in Spring Hill. Fish is fondly remembered for other “pet projects,” like a nice dock and fishing pier for Bayport. He was often compared to a dog with a bone at times. He just wouldn’t give up.
Fish championed to save old oak trees and drew up a tree ordinance for the county. He wanted to save and preserve. He pushed to purchase the old rock schoolhouse on SR 491 and US 98 and turned it into a community cannery.
How did Frank Fish last so long in politics? People said it was because he was agreeable, kind, and passionate. He seemed to get his point across in a low-key way without ruffling too many feathers. He said of his 1980 County Commission campaign that it would be the last one. After all, he was 68 years old. And though he didn’t know it yet, he’d be entering his term as a widower. Sadly, his wife Ruby passed away on May 24, 1980, at the age of 84.
In 1984, Fish changed his mind about politics and ran for a fourth term as county commissioner, stating unfinished business. There were more parks to plan, funding to find, roads to improve, and citizens to help. Frank Fish served from 1984 to 1988 before losing to Travis Northcutt in an election bid for a fifth term.
After 1988, Fish gave up taking pictures and no longer carried his beloved camera around. His health was failing. He suffered from diabetes and had bouts of chronic dizziness. He spent his last few years out of sight and in ill health. Frank Fish passed away on December 8, 1995, at the age of 83.
Newman Franklin Fish had devoted 50 years of his life to Hernando County and is well remembered. He’s thought of as a kind soul that everyone liked. In 1987, at the age of 75, he was an active county commissioner and sat on eleven boards that year. How many of us can claim that much passion and energy?
Frank Fish also loved God and faithfully attended Eden Baptist Church. For years, he was a choir director and a Sunday School teacher. He and his wife Ruby have a final resting place in the Lake Lindsey Cemetery north of Brooksville not far from his home. It’s an old cemetery with graves going back to the Civil War.
Frank Fish was a tireless public servant. To me, though, he’s always the man with the camera, behind the scenes, on the sidelines of a high school football game.
He served Hernando County well. His record stands the test of time. We can look around us and see the rewards. When we enjoy a public park, a fishing pier, clean water, or even the sight of a majestic oak tree, we can remember him fondly and thank Frank Fish.
