The Man Who Put Wesley Chapel On The Map Was 97 Years Old & Surrounded By His Family
Even though I knew he had been in home hospice care for several weeks, the news that Saddlebrook Resort founder and former owner Thomas L. (Tom) Dempsey — known affectionately to his family and friends as “T.D.” — had passed away the day before we went to press with this issue was still a shock to my system.
Mr. Dempsey, who literally put the previously unknown area known as Wesley Chapel on the map, when the Pittway Corp. purchased and began building Saddlebrook way back in 1979, was always so kind to me and said such sweet, complimentary things to me about my efforts with the Neighborhood News. The fact that he ran the huge Penton Publishing empire (a subsidiary of Pittway) in his native Cleveland, OH, for so many years gave his words to me so much more meaning. Even though we only met maybe 10-12 times in all of the years I have owned the Neighborhood News, I still looked upon him as something of a mentor — especially the few times he told me he felt I had gotten something wrong.
The ironic thing to me is that my first home in the Wesley Chapel area, which I moved my family into in 1993 (after leaving Westchester County, NY) was a condominium I rented in the community around Saddlebrook. My kids loved swimming in the resort’s Superpool and members of my family stayed at the resort when they visited us.
I was there when T.D. first opened his beloved Dempsey’s Steak House, Saddlebrook’s crown jewel, and when the original European-style spa opened. The Neighborhood News also followed closely the saga of the resort’s sale, which T.D. definitely resisted for years.
I also became friends with not only Mr. Dempsey’s granddaughter Alexis, but also his former general manager at the resort, Pat Ciaccio, and long-time employee Erik Ravenna, both of whom partnered with T.D. in Johnny C’s Italian Eatery on Cross Creek Blvd. in New Tampa.
Both Pat and Erik also called T.D. a “mentor” and said that although his passing was tremendously sad, as Pat told me, “at least he is finally at peace, and with his beloved Ellie (his wife of 60 years, who passed away in 2017).”
Meanwhile, JD Porter, the Wiregrass Ranch developer whose family trust provided the land for Saddlebrook, said, “Mr. Dempsey was both a visionary and a trailblazer for this community. It’s a rarity for someone in an industry as cyclical and tumultuous as resorts to have such a track record of success and the grit to weather storms that most would run from. We had our successes and battles over the years on certain items with Tom but, at the end of the day, he was a man with fortitude who fought the good fight and was essential in helping to shape not only Wesley Chapel but the entire region through not only his vision but his actions. He will be sorely missed.”
May his soul rest in peace.
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