Bert Reames News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

Volusia and Flagler counties lost thousands in 2021; many left behind a legacy of service to others.

As I recall, Gator Bert, 84 years old at the time, was in some sort of wheelchair during the reception before the gala dinner. I'd just become editor of The News-Journal a few months earlier and didn't really know anyone. It was also a little awkward for me at the gala because The News-Journal was facing some heat at the time for our coverage of the college.  But Gator Bert greeted me like we'd been friends for years. We talked for a couple minutes. He could not have been more supportive of The News-Journal.  Later, after a dinner, it was time for people to say a few words about the perso...

DAYTONA BEACH — "Gator" Bert Reames, a longtime Daytona Beach area business leader whose career and contributions to the community here spanned more than seven decades, died at his Ormond Beach home on Wednesday evening. He was 94. "Bert is truly an iconic figure. There was no one who came to this town and was active in this community in the last 70 years that Bert didn't touch in some way," said Charlie Lydecker, the chairman and CEO of Foundation Risk Partners which acquired Reames' firm, Reames Employee Benefits Solutions, in 2017. Reames was also well-known for his always-kind but some...