Mercedes Shavonne Fluitt wiped tears away from her eyes as she sat in her late father’s front yard in Fruitland Park on Saturday afternoon.
She was still reeling from the news that her 79-year-old father, Dave Edward Boose, had been killed in an accident on Interstate 75 early Friday morning. But as the tears came and went, so did a smile here and there as she explained the amazing outpouring of love she has received by many Fruitland Park residents she doesn’t even know.
“He’s a celebrity,” said Fluitt, of Inverness, when recalling her father. “I didn’t know he was one but obviously Fruitland Park loves him. I appreciate that more than they’ll ever know.”
Boose apparently had been in the roadway of I-75 in Columbia County early Friday morning when he was struck and killed by a 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee driven by 22-year-old Abigail Carroll of Clinton, N.J., a Florida Highway Patrol report states. Fluitt said the truck her father had been driving apparently had broken down and he was either trying to exit the vehicle or fix it when he was hit.
On Saturday afternoon, as Fluitt sat outside her dad’s house on Griffin Street where he had lived for more than 15 years, she talked about how so many people had come by to offer their condolences. Niki Pewsey, owner of the Fruitland Park Café, stopped by and invited Fluitt’s entire family to her restaurant for breakfast Sunday morning. And some residents had driven up with crying children to talk about the impact Boose’s kindness had on them.
“It’s overwhelming,” Fluitt said, gently holding her father’s trademark hat and recalling the hundreds of messages she had read about him on Fruitland Park Facebook pages. “People I don’t know are still messaging me privately about how he touched in their lives.”
Myra Janney Martin said she never actually spoke to Boose but they always exchanged horn honks and waves.
“I thought many times of wanting to sit down and talk to him,” she said. “I’m sure he was a wealth of information. Heaven just gained another angel!”
Kari Bass wrote that she’s lived in her Fruitland Park house for 14 years and Boose has been part of her family’s lives the entire time – especially her young son.
“He’d come by every night and bring him a peppermint, shake his hand and ask if he was being the good man he knew he was,” she wrote. “Such a wonderful, dear man.”
Fluitt said those who have posted comments will never know how much they have meant to her and her family.
“When I’ve been crying, I’ve been pulling out my phone and reading them,” she said. “One really stuck with me and it said that my dad was a light in this community. I’ve read that one so many times because it is the truth.”
Boose, who had retired from the construction industry working in concrete years ago, clearly was known by just about everybody who lived in Fruitland Park or those who regularly drove down Dixie Avenue. He also was called the Can Man because he was constantly picking up discarded cans. And he could frequently be found at the corner of Dixie and Berckman Street, sitting on his black bicycle and waving at every vehicle that drove by.
Many children who attended a nearby daycare or Fruitland Park Elementary School grew up looking forward to the moments when they would see Boose, who was nicknamed “Mr. Squeaker” for the small horn he loved to honk on his bike.
“They actually made him birthday cards that said, ‘Happy Birthday Mr. Squeaker’ and all the kids signed it,” Fluitt said.
Fluitt also posted a video on Facebook of a surprise birthday party she gave her father last year that has been viewed by many area residents.
“He didn’t want to have that,” she said with a chuckle. “He had no idea what was happening.”
Fluitt said she picked up Boose, also known as Music Man, that day and told him they were going for a ride. But when they got to her house, his siblings from St. Petersburg and other family members were waiting for him.
“He was surprised,” she said quietly. “He was really surprised.”
Boose’s bike is now sitting at the corner of Dixie and Berckman as a memorial to the man who meant so much to so many. On Saturday, a steady stream of residents were stopping at the display to leave cards, flowers and other trinkets.
“He was a beloved member of the community who will be missed by all,” Fruitland Park Mayor Chris Cheshire said Sunday afternoon. “Going past that corner of Berckman Street and Dixie Avenue won’t be the same without him there waving. It’s people like Mr. Boose who add character and a sense of community to our city.”
Fluitt said her father would have appreciated all the kind comments, though he would never have expected them.
“He was just who he is and it wasn’t for recognition,” she said. “He was just Dave, Mr. Squeaker, the Music Man and Can Man. But he’s my hero – he’s my daddy.”
A viewing/wake for Boose will be held Friday, Feb. 22 from 6 to 8 p.m. at Anderson-Hence Funeral Home, 121 Roy St. in Wildwood. Funeral services will follow on Saturday, Feb. 23 at 1 p.m. at Mount Ararat Baptist Church in Leesburg.
