MILT THOMAS

Why would the former CEO of B.F. Goodrich Company be buried in Vero Beach’s Crestlawn Cemetery? For those who don’t know, back in the early 1930s, James Dinsmore Tew, then a winter resident,  partnered with the city to create a municipal airport, named the Silvertown Airport after his private airplane. His son, James Tew, Junior, was a World War II fighter pilot killed in action. He is represented by a cenotaph on Memorial Island. Both father and son are buried in Crestlawn Cemetery.

The Tews played an important part in the history of Vero Beach, and a legacy worth preserving into the future. That has been the mission of Tony Young.

Tony Young is a humble man, but a fighter when it comes to preserving Vero’s past. As chairman of the Veteran’s Memorial Island Sanctuary Advisory Committee and a longtime member of the Veteran’s Council, he has worked for many years bringing that hallowed ground to life, researching the lives of the 73 fallen soldiers memorialized there. As past president and active member of the Indian River Genealogical Society, Young has also played an active role in recent efforts to keep Crestlawn Cemetery in public hands.  “Both Memorial Island and Crestlawn Cemetery represent the tradition and values of the people buried there,” said Young in a recent Inside Vero radio interview on WAXE.

Young should know. He is the grandson and namesake of the city’s first mayor, Anthony W. Young, who moved to Vero himself at the turn of the last century.

After graduating from Vero Beach High School, Tony Young spent the next 30 years in the U.S. Army. “I came back because of my roots and the quality of life here. They say you can never go back, but the qualities that existed here when I grew up, were still here when I retired.”

Young is pleased that the city manager and staff came up with a plan to preserve Crestlawn, at least for now. “It only came up as an issue last May and with talk of selling or leasing this landmark, they took action to protect it. Both sets of my grandparents are buried there along with many of our city’s historical leaders, including most recently, the late mayor and city councilman, Bill Jordan.”

Because future City Council’s could, by a 3-2 vote, reverse course yet again, Ken Daige and others are working to have the municipally owned cemetery listed in the CIty Charter as one of the public lands that could only be sold or leased with voter approval.

When the sale of Crestlawn became a possibility, Young started a website, keepcrestlawn.com. On August 13 of this year, he posted:

“I am very pleased to share that the City Council has decided to not continue efforts to sell Crestlawn Cemetery. After words of support from Alma Lee and vigorous dialog by the Council, a majority of 3-2 voted to cease drafting a RFP. I am deeply grateful to those that voiced their concern. The Cemetery is more than a decision of dollars and cents. It is part of our home. It reflects the values we hold dear. Thank you!”

Young’s efforts to preserve the heritage of our community are not limited to Crestlawn and Memorial Island. “The Genealogical Society is in the process of photographing headstones at all the local cemeteries and researching the people memorialized on those headstones. We have photographed over 2,000 in Sebastian Municipal Cemetery so far. These are hallowed grounds. If you have a group of citizens who care, our cemeteries are a reflection of that. They are not expendable assets, commodities to be disposed of for the right price. They are the landmarks of our history.”