Mel Toadvine

news@breezenewspapers.com

Former Lehigh Acres Citizen editor Mel Toadvine, who passed late last  month  at the age of 80, is being remembered for his dedication to the community he diligently covered  for two decades.

“Mel was always a pleasure to work with when there was a story about our Fire District. He wrote fair, balanced articles and worked tirelessly to keep the Lehigh Acres community informed. His family and friends are in my prayers,” Lehigh Acres Fire Control and Rescue District Chief Robert DiLallo said.

A journalist whose career spanned 55 years, Toadvine died at his home on Nov. 18 following a brief illness. He served as editor of the Citizen from 1997 until he retired in 2017 at the age of 77.

Toadvine began his career as a photographer and reporter in 1961, working in the Maryland, Delaware and the Virginia areas for 35 years. He was named  managing editor of Salisbury-based The Daily Times on Nov. 18, 1977, at the age of 37 and worked there until his first retirement and subsequent move to Southwest Florida in 1996.

“We go back many years,” East Lee County Chamber of Commerce Chairman Mike Welch said. “We used to talk about Maryland all the time.”

Toadvine was born in Salisbury, Maryland, on Dec. 12, 1940.

“He was a wonderful man,” Welch said. “He was probably one of the most community-minded editors of the local newspaper I have ever met. He had a heart of gold. Whenever there was a cause, or a charity, or any initiative, or endeavor that was going on in east Lee County and Lehigh Acres, he was always willing to put his talents at the Citizen to work in order to help out those events.”

He considered Toadvine as a friend.

“He really was a towering figure for community spirit within Lehigh,” Welch said. “His efforts at the Citizen distinguished the Citizen from other media outlets we had at the time.”

When Welch moved to the area in 1995, he said Toadvine was the perfect fit for the Lehigh Acres Citizen, as well as Lehigh Acres.

“Mel was at all sorts of events. Many times you didn’t have to call him, he knew already. He lived in the community and that helps an awful lot,” Welch said.

Toadvine was a great supporter of the East Lee County Chamber of Commerce. He said the last time he spoke with Toadvine was when Toadvine congratulated him on renaming the former Lehigh Acres Chamber the East Lee County Chamber of Commerce, as he thought it was a great idea to include other communities such as Gateway.

Toadvine also left an impact on Rick Anglickis, with whom he worked with on a variety of projects.

“He was not like most reporters. Mel would come and pay the price to visit and attend functions. He would do his own pictures. He was an old-fashioned reporter, old school,” Anglickis said.

He said the elder community really appreciated the personal attention Toadvine always provided.

“He was, I think, respected more than any of the members of the media from the Fort Myers area. I think people held him in high regard,” Anglickis said. “We sure miss Mel. When he retired, I tried very hard to get him to do a couple of things, but he really hung it up when he decided to hang it up. He was the face of your company, make no mistake about it.”

A memory that Anglickis remembers most is working alongside Toadvine putting together several Kiwanis Club supplements that were put into the Citizen.

“They were four-page, eight-page inserts. He helped create the copy and the ideas, and we worked together on the layouts of those supplements,” he said.

Toadvine is survived by his wife of 56 years, Barbara Wharton Toadvine, and two children, David W. Toadvine (Laura) of Fort Myers, and Kristina Toadvine VanMeter of Salisbury, MD. He is also survived by five grandchildren Briana, Joshua and Noah Toadvine of Fort Myers and Benjamin and Julia VanMeter of Salisbury, MD.; two brothers Norman F. Toadvine (Bonnie) of Parsonsburg, MD. and Edward M. Toadvine (Diane) of Cape Coral.

A private celebration of life will be held at a later date.