TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

For Centenarian, It's About Family

ADVERTISEMENT

By STEVE KORNACKI, The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 10, 2008

CLEARWATER - Daniel Guy McMullen, the oldest living member of a Pinellas County pioneer family, sat at his kitchen table Saturday and smiled about becoming a centenarian this week. His face crinkled and his eyes twinkled as he said, "Ninety-nine years has covered a wonderful span. And now 100 years has got me."

Asked what has been best about his life, McMullen says, "My family. I've had a beautiful life."

His son, Paul, 69, pats him on the back with his right hand while locking left hands with his father as they sit in kitchen chairs overlooking McMullen-Booth Road.

The road started as a path cleared in the 1840s by their ancestor, James McMullen, and another settler, Richard Booth.

Road Tracks County's Growth
Paul McMullen remembers it as a two-lane "rock and tar" road when he was growing up. It was paved about the time it was named in the mid-1960s for the families, and it expanded into a six-lane highway in the early 1980s.

Pinellas County's population has gone from several pioneer families in the years before the Civil War to more than 900,000. That road became something of a barometer for progress, and much has changed. But there has been one constant: a McMullen or two or three have always lived on it.

Daniel Guy McMullen - known as Guy to all - was named for his great-uncle, Daniel McMullen, who followed Guy's grandfather, James McMullen, to Pinellas from Quitman, Ga.

James McMullen went to Florida to seek relief from tuberculosis and in 1842 homesteaded the land that Guy McMullen still lives on.

James McMullen built what remains the oldest residential structure in the county, a log cabin now on display at Heritage Village in Largo. He raised cattle and was a Confederate captain in the Civil War, helping to move herds north to Georgia to supply troops in what was known as the "Cow Cavalry."

Guy McMullen was born to Ward and Jessie McMullen in a two-story wooden house with a tin roof the day before Valentine's Day in the year the first Ford Model T rolled off the assembly line. That house was just up the hill from the home he now lives in.

"You've only gone 200 yards in 100 years," Paul McMullen tells his father. "You haven't gone far in life."

Oh, but he has.

Guy McMullen is a self-made millionaire. He built his first house one wall at a time with his wife, Laura, as they could afford supplies. After the Depression, he parlayed a successful showing as a Standard Oil gas station owner into a position as an agent and distributor for the company. He eventually owned 18 stations and used profits to buy land, eventually owning nearly 400 acres in the county before selling most of it for healthy profits.

"My dad was the best salesman I ever knew, and my mom was the best bookkeeper I ever knew," Paul McMullen said.

A 1928 Clearwater High School graduate, Guy McMullen spent one year at the University of Florida and played defensive end and offensive tackle for the Gators' freshman team. But the Depression caused him to return home and help his family, making $12 a week at the B & B Market. Gators football remains one of his greatest passions.

He boxed professionally, going 8-0 before retiring. McMullen celebrated his last win and $25 payday with a steak dinner but couldn't chew because of a punch taken to the mouth. He decided boxing wasn't for him.

Celebrating A Pioneer's Milestone

About 140 friends and family will celebrate his life and birthday tonight at the Clearwater Country Club.

Those attending will be amazed at the strong grip Guy McMullen still has in shaking hands. He has had multiple strokes, requires hearing aids and his eyesight isn't what it once was. But that handshake he used to close numerous business deals is still firm.

"It's from milking all those cows," says his son.

Guy McMullen has outlived his seven siblings. Stanley got to be 96 and Morris was 94. Robert, whom Guy considered his best friend, died at 89.

He had four children. Daniel Guy McMullen Jr. died of cancer in 2006 at 72. Twin daughters Linda Davidson and Laura Weikel, both of Seminole, are 68. They were the first babies born at Morton Plant Hospital in Clearwater and both weighed fewer than 3 pounds. They were kept warm by 15-watt lightbulbs in orange crates lined with silk pillows.

His wife of 64 years died in 1994.

Edi Darr has been his nurse for 19 years. She fed him vegetable soup and applesauce Saturday for lunch, and he sipped Diet Coke from a teacup.

Now there are great-grandchildren to carry on the family legacy that began more than 160 years ago in Pinellas.

Guy McMullen says family is what makes him proudest and he wants for nothing. When asked by Darr what he would like for his birthday, he smiled and said, "Just a kiss."

Reporter Steve Kornacki can be reached at (813) 731-8170 or skornacki@tampatrib.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT