Apollo Beach says goodbye to Bert Wallin

When Bert Wallin died Easter Sunday, his passing left a big hole in the hearts of family, friends and a legion of people in South Shore. It seemed that just about everybody knew him.

"Bert was always a part of every community event possible," said Walt Vickers, a close friend. "He was willing to do even the lowliest task. You rarely saw him without his lovely wife, Kathy, both helping in any way they could.

"He was my friend, as he was everyone's friend," Vickers said. "I was Bert's 'Ernie,' and I will miss having him to laugh with and confide in like a father."

After a lifetime of traveling the globe, Wallin, 74, and his wife, Kathy, also 74, moved to Apollo Beach in the late 1990s and started K&B Travel. The pair went everywhere together.

"Since they came into my life, I have known them as K and B," said Connie Lesko of Sundance. "You never saw one without the other; you did not talk on the phone to one, but two. They finished each other's sentences.

"Bert was my dear friend. He was unique and interesting, well-educated and well-traveled," she added. "Even though rich in life experiences, he was unassuming and as comfortable as a favorite slipper."

Born in Williamsport, Va., in 1935, Bert met Kathy Juhlin in 1955 when he was a young Air Force lieutenant and she was a student at the University of Kansas.

"Initially, I didn't like him," Kathy said. "But for him, it was love at first sight."

Back in those days, young women were advised to stay away from "flyboys." But she kept bumping into him, and he gradually grew on her.

They began dating, and it wasn't long before the pair played a game in which they would go to a jewelry store, and Bert would pick out a "pretend" wedding ring.

"Only he wasn't pretending," Kathy said.

He proposed to Kathy after being stationed in Mountain Home, Idaho.

"He called to say he had only two choices," she said. "Either he could become an alcoholic or we could get married."

Kathy told him she would have to think about it and called back to accept the next day.

The two tied the knot on Sept. 8, 1956, less than a year after they had met. Both were 21.

The Wallins traveled throughout their marriage and raised three sons - Jay, 51, Gregory, 49, and Michael, 43 - who in turn gave them three grandchildren, ages 7, 15 and 17. When Bert retired from the military as a major at age 39, he went to work for Merrill Lynch but didn't like working 9 to 5.
They eventually moved to Florida to be closer to Disney World, where they could entice the grandkids to visit, Kathy said.

Once here, though, they became bored "just catching fish and eating with their only friends at the time, Dusty and Charlene West."

"We went on 12 cruises in 15 months and then came back and started our own travel agency," Kathy said.

Three years ago, Bert was diagnosed with colon cancer, which metastasized to his liver.
"He did everything he could to keep from dying," Kathy said, trying to hold back tears. "He still planned to buy new golf clubs."

About three months ago, one of his doctors told him to go home, that there was no hope.

"I noticed a change in him immediately," Kathy said. "Once he couldn't walk, he was gone within a month.

"Bert was the most honest man I ever met; he was a man of his word," she said. "What I admired most about him was that I never saw him cry or be out of control. Once he made friends, they were friends for life.

"I miss everything about him," she said. "We lived 10 lives since the minute we were married."
Bert will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery on June 17.

"Everyone who knew him will be out of sync for awhile," Lesko said. "But as much as we will miss his smiles, optimism and uninhibited humor, we will continue to look forward to Kathy's."