Though much in Plant City changed throughout Billy Vernon’s life, his giving nature never did.
Vernon’s reputation as “the nicest guy you could ever meet” — a sentiment shared by many who knew and worked with him — carried over for decades as he made his mark in town as both a prominent figure in the local insurance scene and a mainstay on the Florida Strawberry Festival’s board of directors.
“He was very dear to me,” Ray “Rolly” Rollyson said. “I really will give him credit for any success I’ve had in this business for the last 48 years. He was Superman. He really was. He genuinely cared about people.”
Vernon, 93, born May 25, 1927, passed away peacefully at home on Aug. 5, surrounded by his family.
Rollyson knew Vernon as well as anybody and said he was “like a second daddy.” Vernon coached Rollyson in Little League baseball in the 1950s and kept in touch with the family as Rollyson grew up and later moved out of town. When he came back in 1972 looking to get into the insurance business, it was Vernon who gave him his start with a job at Metropolitan Life Insurance. Rollyson said Vernon trained him in both the insurance business “and in the people business, too.”
“He tried to instill that in me and I’ve tried to do the same thing,” Rollyson said.
Rollyson and Vernon worked together until Rollyson left Metropolitan in 1976. In 1982, the two men decided to go into business together and created Rollyson & Vernon Insurance, also known as V&R Insurance, which is still active to this day. Vernon worked there until his retirement in 1993.
Vernon was also extremely passionate about the Florida Strawberry Festival. He served on the board of directors for 47 years and was the festival’s president from 1989 through 1991, then went on to become a director emeritus.
“His willingness to serve others and sincere admiration and love of the festival will be greatly missed,” the festival said in an official statement last week. “Mr. Vernon was an incredibly giving person and we are honored to have shared in the life of such an extraordinary man.”
Current president Paul Davis knew Vernon for more than 40 years and said he always went out of his way to be a positive presence on and off the grounds.
“He was probably one of the kindest men I’ve ever met,” Davis said. “Consummate gentleman. Back when I used to work security with Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office at stadium events, he and his wife always took the time to walk over and talk. You can’t replace somebody like him. He was an absolute true gentleman. He had a kind heart. He was very smart. He really understood business and finances and helped guide the festival to where it is today.”
Though insurance and the Florida Strawberry Festival are two separate worlds, Vernon was something like a bridge between them for Rollyson and others in Plant City. Directors like Rollyson, Mike Sparkman, Ron Gainey and Gary Boothe each worked with Vernon in the insurance business before eventually serving with him on the festival’s board of directors.
“Every time I would see Billy at the festival, he and his wife would both say ‘I’m so proud of you, you’ve come a long way and you’ve done a great job,’ Gainey said. “He was always supportive of me. He’s one of those people that if you could pick somebody to be your father, regardless of your relationship with your real father, Billy Vernon would be that guy.”
Vernon’s commitment to the festival lasted year-round, even in the offseason when the main office transitions to use a greatly reduced staff on site.
“He’d bring lunch out there for them and have lunch with them throughout the year,” Sparkman said. “He was very giving and very supportive of everybody.”
It was also well-known throughout the Florida Strawberry Festival that the man loved his ice cream — especially butter pecan. Vernon would often buy it from vendors by the half-gallon and bring the containers into the directors’ area to share.
“He would see to it that there was always a big container of ice cream in the directors’ hospitality lounge,” Rollyson said.
Sparkman said Vernon personally recommended him for a spot on the board, and the two men ended up working closely for similar goals. Before Sparkman and his wife Diane took over the media party duties, Vernon handled them for many years and always made himself available if the Sparkmans needed a hand.
“He is absolutely the nicest man I’ve ever known,” Sparkman said. “He wouldn’t hurt a fly and he loved everybody.”
Vernon was also a World War II veteran of the Merchant Marines, a Plant City commissioner, a member of the Tampa Airport Authority and a past president of the Plant City Lions Club.
He is survived by his wife of 72 years, Betty Jo; their son, Chris (Tami); and two daughters, Grace and Katherine of Naples; daughter-in-law, Bett and her two daughters, Brittany (Ryan Dodge) of Ottawa, and three children, William, Charlotte, and Benjamin, and Laura (David) Middleton of Orlando and their daughter, Kayleigh. He was preceded in death by his parents, his son, James; and four siblings.
Due to the pandemic, a private family burial was held at Oaklawn Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests a donation to Bruton Memorial Library, 302 W. McLendon St., Plant City, FL 33563 or the United Methodist Children’s Home, 51 Children’s Way, Enterprise, FL 32725.