“God needed another crabber, so he called out for Crabby Floyd.”
So reads the first sentence of “Crabby” Floyd DeForest’s obituary, published on the website of Loyless Funeral Home in Land O’ Lakes.
(Courtesy of Loyless Funeral Home)
DeForest, 63 of Lutz, died Feb. 20, after a battle with cancer.
He was a commercial fisherman, but after the net bans went into effect, he became a crabber, said Richard Ortiz, a long-time friend of DeForest.
“He was such a vibrant man,” Ortiz said.
“He’s the first person I met when I moved up here,” said Ortiz, who has lived in the area for about 20 years.
“As soon as I moved into the house, he came over and introduced himself, and we remained friends from that day on,” Ortiz said.
DeForest used to refer to himself as “a round man,” Ortiz added. “He’d say, ‘This little round man can move.’ ”
That was true, Ortiz continued.
“If I had to sit down and pick the hardest working person I’ve known, it would have to be Floyd,” Ortiz said.
When Ortiz went out in the morning to pick up his newspaper, he’d see DeForest pulling out of the driveway with his truck and his boat.
“I’d see him leaving before sun up, and I’d see him coming (home) after sundown. It’d be cold out. It’d be hot out. It’d be bad weather. If he could go, he’d go.
“For all of the time I ever knew that man, I can say that I never, ever, ever heard him complain about his job,” Ortiz said.
“He enjoyed life,” said Lorraine DeForest, Crabby Floyd’s wife of 42 years. “He always considered himself so fortunate because he worked at a job that he loved.”
DeForest was widely known as a crabber.
“Everybody knew what he did,” Ortiz said. “People would come up and knock on his door and ask for crab.”
Often, DeForest would stop and chat with Ortiz, as he headed out to work or on his way home.
“He was a very outgoing, jovial guy. He always had a joke for you,” Ortiz said. “He was very quick-witted. Very bright, too. He stayed up on politics.”
DeForest had plenty of opinions and was always ready to share them.
“You knew where Floyd stood,” Ortiz said.
He also was involved in the community.
He was on the boards for both Land O’ Lakes Police Athletic League football and the Land O’ Lakes Little League and volunteered for the Land O’ Lakes High School Girls’ Softball team.
“We became friends when we coached football together,” said Cary Williams, noting that was 22 years ago.
The men and their families became close, sharing holidays together.
Williams and DeForest used to fish and hunt together, too.
DeForest was the kind of person who would go out in the middle of the night to help someone who was out on the water having boat problems, Williams said.
“He was the type of guy you could count on,” Williams said.
“He was a very conservative man,” Williams added, and he was politically involved.
“He would take the time to call state, federal and local politicians and them his opinion,” Williams said.
Chris Carollo, who owns Shadow Solutions Firearms in Lutz, said DeForest used to come hang out at his gun shop to shoot the breeze with other patrons.
“He loved to tell old stories,” Carollo said.
He also was very helpful.
In fact, when Carollo was getting ready to open his business, DeForest pitched in to help paint the walls.
Friends honored DeForest in posts in an electronic guestbook created by Loyless Funeral Home. They praised DeForest’s work ethic, his devotion to family and his coaching.
One post also mentions his contribution to providing “tasty memories” for thousands of families.
Besides his wife, Lorraine, DeForest is survived by his son, Floyd R.; his daughter, Candace; his mother, Elba; his brother, Rick and his wife, Loretta; nephews, a great niece and other family members and friends.
Ortiz said DeForest is the kind of man who deserved to be remembered.
“There are people out there that do things every day, and they don’t go out looking for credit, and they don’t go looking for accolades. That’s just them. That’s the kind of guy that Floyd was,” Ortiz said.
“I’m going to miss him terribly. I already miss seeing him,” Ortiz said.
Memorial service for Floyd DeForest
7 p.m., March 5 at Loyless Funeral Home, 5310 Land O’ Lakes Blvd.
The family will receive friends one hour prior to the service.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Floyd DeForest’s memory to Gulfside Hospice
Published March 4, 2015
