BRADENTON BEACH – Longtime Bradenton Beach visitor and homeowner Judy Kuhlman passed away on Sept. 23 at the age of 81.
Judy was born in 1942 in Fremont, Ohio and was laid to rest in the Harris-Elmore Union Cemetery in her hometown of Elmore, Ohio on Sept. 30.
Judy is survived by her husband, Richard “Dick” Kuhlman, her son, Bret Richard Kuhlman, his wife, Dr. Stephanie Kuhlman (Liebmann) and two grandchildren, Luke Richard Kuhlman and Jilian Rose Kuhlman. Judy and Dick celebrated their 59th wedding anniversary on Sept. 5.
Historic cottage
In the late 1940s, Judy’s grandparents, Floyd and Florence Myers, purchased a 29-foot 1948 Airstream trailer, trailered it to Bradenton Beach and parked it on a vacant beachfront lot they bought at 2214 Gulf Drive N. The Kuhlman’s still own the trailer that remains in place today, surrounded and engulfed by the 1,180-square-foot beachfront “3 Pines Cottage” Floyd gradually built around it.
“The trailer is still inside the house. It’s our kitchen. Florence decided she couldn’t live in an Airstream so he added a living room, a bedroom, a bathroom, a second bedroom and a porch. This all happened between 1947 and 1955. Floyd had retired from his truck stop business in Ohio, the A Station, and they were living in Bradenton Beach fulltime.
During his time in Bradenton Beach, Floyd Myers was the first president of the newly-formed Annie E. Silver Shuffleboard Club, which later evolved into the still-active Annie Silver Community Center at 103 23rd St. N.
According to an old newspaper story displayed inside the Community Center, Floyd Myers and Chris VanEss conceived the shuffleboard club and wanted to buy the property from Annie Silver to accommodate the soon-to-be-built shuffleboard courts. Instead, Annie Silver donated the land and Myers, VanEss and P.J. Franzoni are listed as trustees on the warranty deed dated Dec. 23, 1955. Floyd died in 1958 and Florence continued to live in the cottage until her death in 1982.
“Judy and I started dating in 1959, I think, and we got married in 1964. Judy started coming down in 1948 or 49. She came once or twice a year and sometimes stayed with her grandmother for the summer,” Dick said.
“My first visit was in the spring of 1965. I was in grad school at Ohio State and Judy was working for Chem-Abstracts in Columbus after we both graduated from Bowling Green State University. Being from Northwest Ohio, and growing up near Lake Erie, we really enjoyed it. There was not a lot going on on the Island in those days. There might have been two or three restaurants. There was Trader Jack’s and Pete Reynard’s and very little else. It was quiet and we had a good time. We came down frequently and stayed with Judy’s grandmother. We did that for many years,” Dick said.
Judy and Dick purchased her late grandmother’s cottage in 1983. They also purchased, and many years later sold, the neighboring fishing cottage Judy’s grandparents owned next door at 2216 Gulf Drive N. Built in 1915, the fishing cottage was then renovated by its current owner and renamed “The Love Shack.”
Judy and Dick continued to use 3 Pines Cottage as their vacation home and they also rented it out to others. In 2000, they contracted with Wagner Realty to manage the vacation rental aspects of their property. Wagner Realty has an office directly across the street from the cottage.
Regarding Judy’s passing, Wagner Realty Property Manager Lisa Varano said, “We’re going to miss her. They’re probably one of our oldest clients out here.”
Varano said the cottage’s kitchen, a bedroom and a half-bath are still located in the original Airstream trailer.
Wagner Realty Marketing Manager Jeannie Flynn said, “Wagner Realty will be forever grateful to Judy Kuhlman and her grandparents for contributing towards a rich heritage in real estate and being part of Wagner Realty’s history since its beginnings in 1939 on the Island.”
Judy and Dick continued to visit 3 Pines Cottage least once a year, until Judy’s ongoing bout with multiple sclerosis (MS) made those Florida visits too challenging. Dick said they didn’t return in 2022 or 2023, but he plans to visit for six weeks next March.
Well-traveled couple
“Judy developed MS when she was 34. She was a fighter and she fought MS until she died. She was a chemist. She started with Merck in New Jersey. I was with Esso at the time in New Jersey. Before that, she was an Army wife in Germany, North Carolina and Texas. She taught Army kids at an elementary school in Fort Bragg,” Dick said.
“Then we moved to New Jersey and she became a literature scientist for Merck. Then she started her own antique business, ‘Judy’s Bygones.’ Then I changed jobs and we went to St. Louis. We were there 18 years and she became involved in philanthropy. Then I got transferred to Richmond, Virginia. After five years there, I transferred to Detroit and she loved that, being closer to Elmore. I worked there until I retired in 2010 and we moved back to our hometown of Elmore, which is where we started.
“We were gone 50 years and then we came back. We went from Elmore to Bowling Green, to Columbus, to Texas, to West Germany, to North Carolina, to St. Louis, to Richmond, to Southfield, Michigan and back to Elmore,” Dick said, noting their return visits to Bradenton Beach remained constant during those five decades.
At the time of her passing, Judy remained a member in good standing of the Annie Silver Community Center.
“We have them in our living will and trust for when I pass away,” Dick said.
Changing times
Dick mentioned how the taxes and other expenses associated with owning a beachfront cottage have increased over the years.
“The taxes are so bloody high down there. You have to rent the place out or you couldn’t afford it. When we bought the place, the taxes were about $600-$700 a year. Now they’re almost $18,000 a year. And then you’ve got your insurance for $6,000, your water, sewer, electricity, internet, pest control and lawn maintenance. If you don’t earn at least $25,000 (from rentals) you’re in the hole,” he said.
He also noted another significant change that took place over the years.
“The big change on the Island as far as we’re concerned – and it was a negative and a positive, and mostly positive – was after the storms of 1986 or ‘87 the Army Corps of Engineers later renourished the beaches.”
According to Charlie Hunsicker, the director of Manatee County’s Natural Resources Department, after reaching a renourishment agreement, Manatee County and the Army Corps initiated the first beach renourishment efforts in Holmes Beach and Bradenton Beach in November 1992 and completed them in March 1993.
“Before that, there was a seawall 50 feet from our windows, with steps leading down to the water. At high tide, we could hear the water slapping against the seawall. The storms took our seawall out. We had to put a new one in and it cost us about $60,000. Then they renourished the beach to what it is today. The seawall is invisible and it’s under the sand. That was a huge change,” Dick said.
“Before that, the only people that went on your beach was you. There were rock jetties on both sides of our beach and it was very private. Now it’s totally public. You lost your privacy, but on the other hand it brought all this new money in from people who want to walk and jog and go up and down the beach. It’s been a real plus, but I think the old-timers miss their privacy,” he said.
