Harold "Ed" Gandy

H. Edward Gandy, 74 Director of Parks and Recreation City of Lakeland. Lakeland- H. Edward Gandy, 75, of Lakeland passed away on April 17, 2014 due to heart failure. H. Ed Gandy was born at Bartow Memorial Hospital on August 14, 1939. He moved to Lakeland in 1944 and attended Lake Morton Elementary, Lakeland Jr. High, and Lakeland Sr. High School. He graduated with the class of 1958. He graduated from FSU with a B.S. in Parks and Recreation. He was an avid Florida State fan. He was the Director of Parks and Recreation in Dunedin, FL for 5 years. He returned to Lakeland to be the Assistant Director of Parks and Recreation for the city of Lakeland. When Joker Merchant retired Ed became the Director. He retired in 1993 after working with the City for 23 years. The City Commission honored Ed by naming the new city pool the ""Ed Gandy Pool"". During his time with the City he was on the Board of Directors of the Boys Club and The Board of Directors of Santa Fe High School. Upon retiring, he moved to Bimini, Bahamas where he built a home and enjoyed fishing every day. Ed""s family were early pioneers in Polk county settling and homesteaded in Connersville in 1861. The burial will be at the Gandy Cemetery, one of the oldest cemeteries in the county. It is on Gandy Cemetery Rd off Highway 60. He was preceded in death by his father H.R. ""Buddy""Gandy and mother Ruth Culpepper Gandy. He is leaving his wife, Barbara Brantley Gandy; his daughter Elisa Gandy Osborne; son Robert E. Gandy; sister Patti Gandy Keene; brother Robert W. Gandy of Crystal Rivers; and his grandchildren " Haley and Hunter Osborne and Jake and Jordan Gandy. A viewing will be held on Tuesday April 22, 2014 from 5-7 pm at Heath Funeral Chapel in the Tribute Center. A graveside service will be held on Wednesday April 23, 2014 at 10 am at Gandy Cemetery in Bartow. Memorial donations may be sent to All Children""s Hospital in the name of Dalton Glass. 501 6th Ave South, St. Pete, FL 33701. Service: 04/23/2014 Gandy Cemetery 863 Gandy Cemetery Road, Bartow, FL 33830 Tribute Center HFC Visitation: 04/22/2014 Tribute Center HFC