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Ex-Zephyrhills Mayor Arnot Dies

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By NICOLA M. WHITE, The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 1, 2008

ZEPHYRHILLS - He was a mainstay in local politics in the 1960s and '70s, a key member of the city's volunteer firefighter squad and a gardener who wowed friends with giant squash and tomato plants.

Emerson Arnot, mayor of Zephyrhills from 1964 to 1976, died Thursday from prostate cancer. He was 82.

Friends recalled a man who was passionate about Zephyrhills and making the city a better place.

"He was just a peach of a guy. He never had a difficult word to say about anybody. He was a pleasure to work with," said Bob Winters, a volunteer firefighter who served on the city council with Arnot in the late 1960s.
Arnot weathered a bitter time in Zephyrhills political history, when a divisive recall election spurred the firing of the city manager, police chief and clerk as well as other city employees.
Arnot survived the recall, but stepped down two months later after another councilman accused him of nepotism. Arnot's brother-in-law was longtime police chief William Eiland.

At the council meeting when he announced his resignation, Arnot fought back tears.

"I'm willing to do anything for the welfare and best interest of Zephyrhills," he said at the time. "I love Zephyrhills. I was born here and brought up here, and when I'm buried, I hope to be buried here."
Arnot left Zephyrhills High School in his junior year to fight in the war, serving in the Navy in the Pacific and Atlantic theaters during World War II, and then graduated after returning, according to his obituary.

He went on to the National College of Chiropractic in Chicago, now the National University of Health Sciences. He spent more than 30 years as a chiropractor in Zephyrhills.

He was one of the original members of St. Elizabeth's Episcopal Church, said the Rev. Bob Butler, the church's assistant pastor. Butler administered the last rites to Arnot at the Hernando Pasco Hospice.

"When I spent any time with him, I felt like he was teaching me something," Butler said. "I don't mean from the standpoint of preaching or something like that, just that there was so much in the man. You couldn't help but feeling you gained something from him."

Up until he became very sick, Arnot maintained his sense of humor and his love of gardening, Butler said.

"He was a person who saw life in everything," he said. "When he saw a plant, it was almost like he saw a person."
Arnot is survived by Joan, his wife of 55 years, and his daughters, Suzanne Marie Morgan of Crystal Springs and Shree' Louise Newell of Zephyrhills.

Memorial services will be at 10 a.m. Wednesday at St. Elizabeth Episcopal Church, Zephyrhills.

Reporter Nicola M. White can be reached at (813) 779-4613 or nwhite1@tampatrib.com.

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