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Roth put resort on map




BY ROBERT SILK Free Press Staff

rsilk@keysnews.com

ISLAMORADA -- Joe Roth Jr., the man credited with taking Holiday Isle Resort out of foreclosure in the early 1980s and turning it into the place to be in the Upper Keys, died last week after a two-year battle with cancer. He was 63.
"He helped make Islamorada, Islamorada," said Mayor Michael Reckwerdt, who regarded Roth as a mentor.
Friends last week remembered Roth as a gregarious and fun-loving man whose natural flair for promotion was matched by his love of life.
"There wasn't anyone he didn't like," said "Trapper" John Petersen, who ran Rum Runners bar at Holiday Isle, a Roth creation, for two decades. "He didn't want to shake your hand. He wanted to hug you. He was that type of guy."
Roth was born in Patterson, N.J. in 1946. He moved to Florida in 1963, and after graduating from the University of Florida, got involved in the hospitality industry.
His holdings in the Keys were numerous. He was one of the original partners of the luxury Little Palm Island resort, just off Little Torch Key. For a while he was the owner and operator of Tavernier Creek Marina. He also developed Conch Harbor Marina at the Key West Bight.
Along with Vincent Celentano and Richard LoRicco, Roth purchased Holiday Isle at a courthouse auction in 1983, and as managing partner, set about transforming it.
Over the ensuing 15 years Roth was instrumental in turning the Coney Island-motifed Windley Key lady into a South Florida icon. He saw the potential of Bartenders' Bash in Fort Lauderdale, a late spring party for hospitality workers letting off steam at the end of the tourist season, and turned it into a huge event at Holiday Isle, Petersen said.
He tripled the size of the Isle's World Famous Tiki Bar. While on a beach in his beloved Maui, Roth had the inspiration for the stilted Rum Runners cabana bar, so he pulled out a notebook and started sketching, said acting Holiday General Manager Ed Kinkelaar, whom Roth moved to the Windley Key resort from Conch Harbor in 1996.
"His goal was that everything that a person could want would be right there for them," Kinkelaar said. "Holiday Isle, the one isle that has it all."
The resort's singular image as a party locale naturally attracted some critics. But Holiday Isle's growth also turned Islamorada into a destination for people from all around the region, said Jay Hershoff, a local attorney who was also a Roth family friend.
"People would come. They'd rent a room there. It was the place. And he brought a lot of business to a lot of people down here," Hershoff said.
Roth's contribution to Islamorada went beyond Holiday Isle, though. He and wife Lindy were among the founders of Mariners Hospital. He was a member of the Upper Keys Rotary Club. And through their Joe and Lindy Roth Charitable Foundation, Roth contributed to numerous other causes, including the American Cancer Society.
Whether at work or at play, Roth was also known for his penchant for practical jokes.
Each summer, for example, he would dress in drag and attempt to weigh-in a fish at Original Florida Keys Ladies Dolphin Tournament.
When dropping his name became a common practice among Islamoradans in search of influence of their own, Roth ordered up buttons reading, "I'm a friend of Joe Roth," Petersen said.
Roth stepped back from management at Holiday Isle in 1998. In recent years, he and Lindy split their time between the Keys and Naples. He especially liked spending time with his eight grandchildren, according to an obituary the family submitted to the Naples Daily News.
Roth is survived by Lindy; mother Edna Roth; children Joe Roth III (Cathy), Jodi Lesko (Brian) and Kristy Ross (Paul); and those eight grandchildren.
The family will hold a celebration of life ceremony for Roth in the Keys in the next few weeks. In lieu of flowers, they request that donations be made to the American Cancer Society in Key West.


rsilk@keysnews.com