Lakeland Home Builder Is Killed in Predawn Crash

LAKELAND | Vince F. Strawbridge Sr., who built hundreds of houses across South Lakeland in the past five decades, died early Wednesday in a car crash on State Road 60 near Mulberry. He was 87.

Strawbridge was the patriarch of a family that continues his tradition in home construction.

Of his seven children, two of his sons, Vince Jr. and Rick Strawbridge, entered the home-building business. He also leaves 34 grandchildren and 40 great-grandchildren, with four more on the way.

His other two sons, Ted and Tim, entered the ministry. He also had three daughters.

Marion Strawbridge, his wife of 66 years, was released from Lakeland Regional Medical Center on Wednesday after being treated for minor injuries she received in the accident.

The elder Strawbridge was driving east on State Road 60 near Bonnie Mine Road when he failed to see a flatbed tractor-trailer loaded with wood that had stopped for a passing train about 3:35 a.m., said the Florida Highway Patrol.

Neither Strawbridge nor his wife was wearing a seat belt, the report stated.

Becky Strawbridge, the wife of Vince F. Strawbridge Jr., said the family has no idea why the Strawbridges were out at that hour.

"We just don't know," she said. "It didn't look like they had gone to bed last night, so maybe they were just going for a drive to relax."

Given Strawbridge's age, his family didn't want him driving anymore, she said.

Authorities said he died at LRMC at 7:30 a.m. Wednesday.

An Illinois native, Strawbridge moved to Florida in 1957 with his wife and five children. He'd owned a hardware store in Illinois and had taken off for a few weeks' travel around the country to visit friends.

A World War II veteran, he met fellow Marines while in Lakeland, said Vince Jr., and decided to move here.

"When we came here, the last stop light coming south was at Southgate Shopping Center," Vince Jr. said.

The family settled in the Schoolhouse Road area, and Strawbridge started building houses.

"Back then, you paid a $6 fee and you could become a licensed contractor," Vince Jr. said. "There's nothing he loved more than to help somebody get into a house who hadn't been able to qualify before. My dad didn't build any big subdivisions or anything like that. He just built houses one lot at a time, mostly smaller homes for young families just getting started."

He was a former president of the Lakeland High School Dreadnaught Booster Club.

"He also was a committed Christian," Vince Jr. said, "and he loved this town and the people here."

The death of the family's patriarch was the second tragedy to strike this family in the past 10 years.

On Jan. 22, 1998, Vince Jr. was paralyzed in a skiing accident on Sugar Mountain, N.C.

[ Suzie Schottelkotte can be reached at suzie.schottelkotte@theledger.com or 863-533-9070. ]