Memorial Celebration Planned For Man Who Bequeathed Folly Farm To City

SAFETY HARBOR, FL — There will be a memorial celebration for George F. Weiss on Saturday, Oct. 7 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Folly Farm Nature Preserve, 1562 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. St. in Safety Harbor.

Born on April 9, 1928, Weiss died on July 19 at the Clearwater Beach home he shared with his late wife, Lucille.

Weiss was the founder of G.F. Weiss Industries and was part of a cadre of entrepreneurs who helped develop early Pinellas County.

Once retired and widowed, Weiss was known for walking miles a day around the Publix on Island Estates, greeting everyone by name, and at the trails in Folly Farm, the nature preserve in Safety Harbor that he bequeathed to the community in memory of Lucille, who died on Feb. 2, 2013. Folly Farm is an 8.6-acre nature preserve with a community garden, a .75-mile hiking loop, a butterfly garden and a playground.

Weiss' ever-smiling presence will be missed by the garden community, artist friends and all the families he would greet in Safety Harbor. Athens Restaurant was his hangout where he enjoyed a daily cup of coffee and an English muffin with grape jelly with Judy and all the others who treated him like a king.

His children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren were always eager to talk on the phone with him to discuss puzzles, a recent book or laughing about memories of mom forever changing her order at a restaurant. He was proud of his family and the things he was able to share, especially experiences he had in other countries: sitting in Harrod's at the men’s bar having a Guinness, waiting patiently for his wife to shop and frowning at his grandsons when they giggled mercilessly at the castle dinner in Wales when the band of saws began playing.

Keeping a loaned book too long or forgetting to return it to him was a huge no-no as well as sleeping in, not shaving or procrastination in any form.

Weiss loved his many nieces and nephews who called, wrote and showed up for family get-togethers with smiles, homemade cookies and a bottle of moonshine. Weiss was known for his white T-shirts spotted with coffee stains, khaki shorts and Christmas that he wore year-round.

He could sing all the words to “Don’t Fence Me In” and “The Wabash Cannonball,” and was known to play “Turkey in the Straw” on the harmonica on occasion.

Weiss loved to cut a rug on the dance floor with Lucille, winning many dance contests while cruising the world. They woke up each morning, singing “Here Comes the Sun," a song his family and friends are sure he and Lucille will sing again together forever.

The informal celebration will feature North Carolina’s Lonesome Road Band, a butterfly release, a flag-raising ceremony, a memory table and refreshments. To continue Weiss' philanthropic legacy, the family has donated items for a raffle benefitting the Safety Harbor Garden Club, a group near and dear to Weiss' heart at Folly Farm.