LIVING HISTORY
22
VERO AT 100
learning in the house, and :aldo would oͿer his children
and grandchildren if they would achieve milestones
such as learning the booNs of the Bible or memoriing the
multiplication tables up to .
7he children had few restrictions or responsibilities, ecept
the care of various pets, which included a macaw, monNey,
goats, several dogs and a clowder of cats to Neep rats down in
the dairy barn. :aldo also gave each of his children a pony.
´'addy always wanted us to have eperiences that he
never had and so he tooN us on all sorts of trips,·· Barbara
told biographer *ross. ´He even tooN us to :est 3alm and
the cemetery there, where his favorite marNer read ¶7hat
which is so universal as death must be a blessing.·µ
As the children of two rare parents who had graduated
from college, all four children earned higher degrees themselves
5alph and 5andy at the University of )lorida -ac-
Tueline at Sweet Briar :aldo tried unsuccessfully to finance
one of her years with a railroad car full of grapefruit and
Barbara at the University of Ariona.
Ecept for oldest daughter, -acTueline, who would marry
an Episcopal priest and live in &alifornia, each of the three
other Seton children followed paths forged by their father.
2ldest son, 5alph, bought 7reasure HammocN 5anch and
:aldo·s beef cattle interests. <oungest son, 5andy, bought
the groves and pacNinghouse. 'aughter Barbara married
-ohn 7ripson, who would buy :aldo·s 9ero Beach 'airy and
transform it into 7ripson·s 'airy, serving much of the 7reasure
&oast.
Barbara and -ohn 7ripson lived with :aldo and Elsebeth
after their marriage. But when Barbara became pregnant with
their first child, :aldo tooN action. ´,·ve already raised four >>
SEXTON COLLECTION, ARCHIVE CENTER, IRC MAIN LIBRARY
Waldo, left, and son-in-law John Tripson stand in front of the entrance to
Tripson’s Dairy, which Tripson bought from Waldo as Vero Beach Dairy. The
dairy was located on the original Sexton homestead.
JIM WILSON COLLECTION
LYNN ACOR
Besides a rendering of the Szechuan Restaurant, a 1956 sketch pad of Waldo’s recently acquired by amateur historian Jim Wilson contains other projects
of Waldo’s that came to fruition. The pad included a sketch of a whale, middle top, that was carved and now hangs at Waldo’s Restaurant at the Driftwood
Resort, bottom left, and a sketch of Waldo’s Mountain, top right. Although Waldo possessed many talents similar to a sculptor, he had limited drawing
skills and often enlisted the help of others to create artistic renderings of his visions. Many of the sketches in the pad were drawn with assistance from the
artist Leo Sexton (apparently no relation) whose help Waldo enlisted during a visit to see his daughter in Belmont, Calif., in 1956. The pad also included
his signature, bottom right, and familiar WS brand, top left.