Tom Minnich, 84, of Englewood, died Oct. 7 after a brief illness.
Born in Stroudsburg, Pa., he attended Stroudsburg High School and graduated from Temple University as a compounding pharmacist. He was a longtime pharmacist with Rae & Derrick Drug Stores and Lemon Bay K-Mart pharmacy.
He was a member of the Masonic Lodge for more than 50 years and a member of the Englewood Elks Club.
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Tom Minnich, 84, of Englewood
An active leader and passionate advocate of Englewood, he was co-founder of the Southwest County Homeowners Alliance, the Englewood Environmental Learning Center, the Lemon Bay League and the River Road Task Force.
Minnich also served on the Sarasota County Neighborhood Grant Advisory Committee and numerous county citizen organizations promoting quality of life. He most recently initiated the concept for the future Ethnobotany educational project in the Buchan Field Community/Kiwanis Park trails.
He is survived by his wife, Wanda (Bell); brother, Jack, (Minnich); son-in-law, Randy (Baxter); daughters, Cynthia (Baxter) and Debbie (Kole); grandchildren, Dianisha, Sarah, Thomas, Michael and Jill; and cousins, Floyd Shively and Bobbe Shively.
A Celebration of Life memorial will be held in the future. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in memory of Tom to Friends of Sarasota County Parks, 6700 Clark Road, Sarasota FL 34241. Proceeds will be designated for the Ethnobotany project in Englewood.
Lemon Bay Funeral Home and Cremation Services is in charge of arrangements. Express condolences at lemonbayfh.com.
