Our mother and father migrated from Brooklyn, New York to St. Petersburg, Florida in 1946. Like so many others, it was the dawn of a new beginning following the war. I was 6; my brother Doug was 8. Russell was born the following year. We lived in a small mobile home, the trailer park still exists, and the mobile home could still be there. Father surveyed the territory looking for a new start. He found it by going back too New York and returning with a used Good Humor Ice Cream truck. Each day we traveled the beaches and fishing spots. Popsicle, 5 cents, Ice Cream cups 10 cents. My allowance was collecting discarded soda pop bottles.

In 1948, my parents brought a home six miles from town that had a small country store building on site. It became known as Buchan’s Corner, a forerunner of the today’s convenience stores. It was open 7 to 10, 364 days a year and operated by the entire family. Doug and I pumped gas, stacked groceries, fixed flats and sold produce off the front lawn. At twelve, I became a short order cook when my father decided to put in a lunch counter.

On vacant land adjacent to our home, Mother and Father built a strip store center with five rental units. It was announced in the local paper as being the first commercial strip center built in St. Petersburg. Eventually, our home, gas station and grocery store was demolished and the strip center was expanded. It still exists as Buchan’s Corner

In 1954, the family purchased some retired LP gas filling assets and relocated them on vacant land near Pinellas Park, Florida. They opened Buchan Bottled Gas and Fuel Oil Company, which later became Buchan Gas Company. Doug and I, at ages 16 and 14, had a new career. My involvement in Buchan Gas Company spanned 42 years.

Our parents continued to invest in small parcels of real estate including a gas station, some abandoned commercial property, an industrial warehouse, commercial frontage in expanding areas, other small strip centers and some rental properties.

The reality was we did not have a happy home life. Mother and Father had a contentious marriage. I did not use that word or know it as that then. You accept the environment you live in, and we did not have 16 hours of "experts" on TV every day telling us what was wrong with our lives. My best friend then was my dog, Gigger, a purebred Spritz.We were companions for about eight years. If things were not going well inside the house, everything was OK outside with my dog, Gigger. He was a good listener.

The years went by and in 1968, I was married with three children and living in North Florida. My older brother Douglas was operating his own fuel oil business in St. Petersburg. My brother, Russell was in collage at Vanderbilt. Our parents were trying to sell Buchan Gas Company but negotiations with prospective buyers always failed before completion. In the fall of 1968, the three brothers purchased Buchan Gas Company. In 1986, Douglas sold his interest to Russell and I. In 1996 I sold my interest to Russell.

In 1968 prior to our purchase of the family business, my mother moved out of the martial home and established her own residence. From 1968 until 1990, our parents were involved in divorce litigation. During this period they had filed three different divorce actions. The last one was filed in 1986. Over the years, more than a dozen attorneys were involved in our parents divorce litigation. No divorce was ever final because either one would ever agree to a property settlement. In 1988, the Court appointed me the Conservator of my parent’s real estate holdings because of their neglect in maintaining these properties. After my parents withdrew their divorce filings against each other in 1990, the properties were returned to their own control.

My mother when diagnosed with dementia received a Court appointed guardian in 1992. My father passed away with cancer in April 1994. Coincidentally, my mother was transferred from an assisted living facility to a nursing home the same week. She remained in that nursing home until her death on February 1, 2001.

My father’s Will left all his assets to my mother. I will discuss his Will in following passages and how my brother Russell had already involved himself to steal the family estate.