OLDSMAR - Thomas J. Pinta, who served Oldsmar between 1985 and 1993 as a council member, vice mayor and mayor, died Tuesday (Jan. 13, 2004) at home. He was also the first manager of Busch Gardens in Tampa. He was 88.
Mayor Jerry Beverland called Mr. Pinta "a man who did a lot for the city. He was one of the leading forces to get City Hall built."
While the two had differences, Mr. Pinta "was always a great advocate of Oldsmar . . . unwavering when he supported an idea," Beverland said.
Former Mayor Jerry Provenzano, who also had moments when he didn't see eye to eye with Mr. Pinta, called his death "a great loss for the city."
"Tom was one of the good ones," Provenzano said. "He was mayor in 1988 when I first got on council. He was quite patient with me, gave me a lot of good advice. The most important being when he told me to never be afraid to have my own opinion and to speak my own mind. Though we often disagreed, (Tom) never wavered from that advice."
The Jersey City, N.J., native's college studies were interrupted in 1942 by World War II. Mr. Pinta met and married his wife of 59 years, Eunice, while both were stationed in the Army Air Forces at West Point.
After the war, he went to work for Anheuser Busch in 1946. In 1959, the company transferred him to Tampa where he became the first manager of Busch Gardens.
After retiring from Busch in 1970, Mr. Pinta worked on a freelance basis with the Florida Attraction Association, and in that capacity he was an adviser at the Kennedy Space Center.
In 1977, he moved to Oldsmar, where he immersed himself in politics, serving the city as a council member and mayor.
At Busch Gardens, Mr. Pinta said his job "was to make it a first-class attraction, and I think we accomplished that. I handled everything from the zoo to the gift shops, everything but making the beer."
In an interview in 1987, he said that his business experience would serve him well as a steward of the city's affairs.
"My whole background has been in developing and being able to pick out the right direction to go - legal, financial or whatever phase it might be," Mr. Pinta said. "I watch my p's and q's and do my homework. I don't dream about a better Oldsmar, I try to find a way to make it happen."
Mr. Pinta was a member of the Pinellas Planning Committee and was appointed by the late Gov. Lawton Chiles to the state Committee on Aging and was a member of the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council's agency on aging. He was a member of Espiritu Santo Catholic Church in Safety Harbor, Oldsmar's Over 55 club, AARP and the Oldsmar Moose Club.
In 1995 he was named Greater Oldsmar Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the Year, the chamber's highest honor.
Survivors include his wife, Eunice P.; two sons, Thomas J. II, Lutz, and John A., Oldsmar; a granddaughter, Theresa J. Tullio, Kent, Wash.; a grandson, Thomas J. III, Tampa; and six great-grandchildren.
Funeral services will be at 7 p.m. Wednesday Jan. 21 at Holloway Funeral Home, 112 Bayview Blvd., Oldsmar. Family requests donations to Hospice of the Florida Suncoast.
