Former Longboat Key mayor and community statesman dies

The way Susan Phillips tells it, Jeremy Whatmough had a distinct look about him.

"Starched collar, button-down, white shirt and khaki pants," she says.

Whatmough's casual yet dapper attire was very much the same, whether he was at a board meeting of the Longboat Key Garden Club, a Kiwanis meeting or serving as a member of the Longboat Key Town Commission. Although for town meetings, he would wear a jacket, she said.

On July 21, Whatmough, the former mayor of Longboat Key, town commissioner and Kiwanis Citizen of the Year in 2000, died at the age of 90.

Like a modern-day version of lawyer-turned farmer Oliver Wendell Douglas from Green Acres, Whatmough carried his signature spotless style no matter where he went.

"It was hilarious because he would have creases in his pants and shirt and he'd be out there, raking leaves, riding his lawn mower, putzing around doing stuff, " said his son, Josh. "And always clean-shaven, my dad never stopped being clean shaven. He always looked immaculate."

Whatmough graduated from Harvard in 1956 and began working on the assembly line at Ford Motor Co., where he moved up the career assembly line to various executive positions at Ford. 

He left Ford in 1972 and began working for American Motors Corp. as the general plant manager in Brampton, Ontario, which made the Jeep CJ series of vehicles.

"He testified before Congress on behalf of Jeep," his daughter, Jocelyn said. "In the early '70s, it was the precursor to the Wrangler because '60 Minutes' did an episode on how unsafe they were and what a rollover threat they were. He actually testified in front of Congress, and he said, 'This is absolutely false.' They had the wrong tires on the vehicle."

In 1979, he moved the family to Philadelphia to begin a position with Conrail railroad systems.

He and his wife, Myrna, wanted to pick a place to retire and after he had spent parts of his youth on Longboat Key, says Jocelyn, that's where they settled in 1996.

As Josh says, Jeremy was too busy with his career to get involved in community affairs, such as the town commissions or civic organizations.

But in retirement on Longboat, little stopped him from being involved — Whatmough thrived on it.

As an assistant to the town manager for 27 years, the recently retired Phillips knew Whatmough well not only in town matters, but also in  service of the Longboat Key Garden Club.

"I tell you another side of Jeremy the people may not know is he served as president of the Longboat Key Garden Club," she said. "Jeremy served on the Longboat Key Garden Club Scholarship Committee with me. He was on the committee until he moved off the island."

Whatmough was a six-time commissioner with Longboat Key starting in 2002 and culiminating as mayor and commissioner in 2007.

He served with Longboat Kiwanis, and received their Citizen of the Year award in 2000. He also spent time on Longboat's Planning and Zoning Board.

While on the commission, he advocated to get a cell phone tower on the island, which was a community controversy in the mid-2000s.

And every holiday season, you could find him standing in front of Publix.

"He thoroughly enjoyed ringing the bell at Publix during Christmas time for The Salvation Army; he got a kick out of that," Jocelyn said. "He was extremely protective of Longboat Key, I think because it had such an impact on him when he was truly a little boy. And I just know any decision he ever made was for the good of Longboat Key. My dad never made a decision that was for his benefit."

In 2013, Whatmough, who is survived by Jocelyn, Josh and his wife, Myrna, moved from Longboat Key to Sarasota Polo Club to allow some romping room for the family's 11 Airedale terriers.

The move left a void at Christmas time for community members since Phillips said Whatmough was well-known for his holiday parties.

"Basically anyone and everyone on Longboat was invited, and I mean, literally, they'd have 300 to 500 people every year for their Christmas party," said Jocelyn, who said the parties were held at the Whatmough house. "They lived right across from the Longboat Island Chapel. So my dad would hire off-duty police, and everyone would park at the chapel, and the police would control traffic so people could walk across."

Jocelyn said her dad knew just about everyone on the island. It's just the way he was. 

Josh offered the fact that no matter what his father did, work, play, volunteer or community visibility, it would be done right.

"My dad never did anything (half-baked)," he said. "If he wanted to learn how to do something, he put 100% effort into it and did it until he was satisfied with the results. You know, he had no quit in him."

Right down to the way he dressed.