PUBLISHER’S NOTE
Publisher & Editor
GregoryEnns
772.940.9005
enns@indianrivermag.com
Associate Publisher
Allen Osteen
Assistant to the Publisher
Lisa Crawford
772.466.3346
lisa@indianrivermag.com
Associate Editor
Jerry Shaw
Design Editor
Michelle Moore-Burney
Writers
Susan Burgess, Donna Crary,
Rick Crary, Pattie Durham,
Greg Gardner, Ellen Gillette,
Janie Gould, Kerry Firth,
Angel McLellan, Willi Miller,
Jerry Shaw, Christina Tascon
Photographers
Robert Adams, John Biondo,
Rob Downey, Anthony Inswasty,
Phil Reid, Jim Wilson
Photo Retouching
Herb Paynter
Cover Photo
Sexton Collection, Archive Center,
Indian River County Main Library
Copy Editors
Pattie Durham, Gaettane A. Paul
Advertising Representatives
Sunny Gates
772.204.5043
sunny@indianrivermag.com
Marsha Lange
772.237.1717
marsha@indianrivermag.com
Social Media/Sales Assistant
Melissa Gorham
Distribution
Wes Holloway, Kirk Jones
Our Motto
‘We fly our own mission’
— Ed Drondoski, Founding Photographer
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A TREASURE TO READ
Getting to know Waldo
Even though I grew up 15 miles away in Fort
Pierce, the life and works of Vero Beach’s Waldo
Sexton often intersected with everyday life.
We grew up on Tripson’s milk from the dairy
Waldo’s son-in-law, John Tripson, ran as Tripson’s
Dairy and which originated as Waldo’s Sexton Dairy
and later Vero Beach Dairy.
Special occasions were reserved for lunch at the
Patio or dinner at the Ocean Grill, two of three quirky
Vero Beach restaurants that Waldo created out of the
ruins of Palm Beach mansions.
Our out-of-state guests were always encouraged to
visit McKee Jungle Gardens, the Vero attraction Waldo
built with friend Arthur McKee.
Weekend getaways were spent at the rustic Driftwood
Inn, a Waldo creation that looked as if it had been spit
out from the sea.
In the early 1970s, when the call went out over local
television station WTVX that Waldo’s Ocean Grill was
in danger of being destroyed by erosion from a storm,
my mother rounded up as many of her eight children
as she could, loaded us into her Plymouth Fury station wagon and
delivered us to a sandbag crew to help save the fabled dining establishment,
one of her favorite ladies’ luncheon spots.
And almost daily, I walked through the art studio of A.E. “Bean’’
Backus in Fort Pierce — a sort of community center for untethered
teens — that featured an arched front door given to Bean by his
friend Waldo.
I never met Waldo, who died in 1967, but I and the other kids who
would become known as “Backus Brats’’ heard enough stories from
Bean to feel like we had. So much so that we all pretty much had
memorized Waldo’s famous story about taking the woman through
the tour of the Driftwood to see his collection of antiques. Thrilled
with the morning tour, she took a second one in the afternoon. When
she brought up a discrepancy to Waldo’s attention and noted that
what he had told her in the morning tour was not the same as the
afternoon tour, he quickly retorted: “Well, madam, I’d rather be a liar
than a bore.’’
Bean was a subscriber to 7wain·s philosophy, which he modified
as, “I’ll take heaven for atmosphere and hell for company,’’ and we
knew Bean had enjoyed the company of Waldo over the years. “I wish
you had known Waldo,’’ Bean would tell us, a wistful sentiment he
reserved only for his most colorful friends who had passed away.
When I returned to the Treasure Coast 12 years ago to start this modest endeavor, one of the
first things , did was to set out to retrace :aldo·s footsteps.
The result was a spread called “Waldo’s World,’’ complete with stories about many of his
works, some described earlier.
One of our writers, Willi Miller, discovered that Waldo’s original home place was still standing
as well and was being lovingly cared for by Waldo’s grandson, Mark Tripson, and Mark’s
wife, Hildie.
Mark and Hildie opened their doors to us and also opened the doors to further discovery of
the Sexton family’s many accomplishments. In subsequent issues over the years, we shared stories
on Natalie’s Orchid Island Juice Company, founded by Marygrace Sexton and her husband,
Bobby, a grandson of Waldo; explored life at Treasure Hammock Ranch with Sharon and Sean
Sexton, another of Waldo’s grandsons; and revisited masterpieces Ocean Grill, Driftwood and
Patio several times.
And last January, as the presenting sponsor of the Treasure Coast History Festival, we hosted a
session at the Emerson Center in Vero Beach on “Waldo’s Legacy and the Sexton Family Today’’
that featured descendants of each of Waldo’s four children.
We barely had time to scratch the surface that night of Waldo’s accomplishments and we
promised the packed house that we’d make up for it. So here, almost a year later, we’re happy to
present our cover story on :aldo·s life beginning on 3age . ,t·s the first part of a series on 9ero
Beach history we are publishing over the next year as the city celebrates its centennial.
Many of our Vero Beach readers may be familiar with the Vero at 100 special anniversary
magazine we produced last month. While compiling it, we concluded that we should begin
our centennial series in Indian River Magazine citizen. As part of the centennial celebration, we are also
partnering with the Tripson family to provide tours of
Waldo’s original homestead on 12th Street on Jan. 5 and 6.
We hope you enjoy the story and look forward to seeing
you in January for Waldo Sexton Homestead Days.
Indian River Magazine Inc. is a locally
owned company based at 308 Ave. A in
Fort Pierce, FL 34950. Indian River maga-
aine WuIlishes fie times a `ear! earl`
October, late November, mid-January,
early March and early May. All material
contained herein is copyrighted by Indian
4
River Magazine Inc.
CHRISTINA TASCON
Members of the Sexton family enter the
stage during a presentation on “Waldo Sexton
and the Sexton Family Today’’ hosted
by Indian River Magazine at the Emerson
Center in January. The discussion led to this
issue’s cover story. From right, Mark Tripson,
Hildie Tripson, Jens Tripson, Bonnie Schwey
and Sean Sexton.
on the life of Waldo, Vero Beach’s most celebrated
Publisher
DORIS TILLMAN
The arched door at the
studio of landscape painter
A, BacRus, now the office
of Main Street Fort Pierce,
was a gift to Backus from
his friend Waldo Sexton.
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