Jay B. Starkey Jr., the cattle rancher who ran cattle on his family's 16,000-acre Pasco County ranch and helped preserve thousands of those acres as public land, died Sept. 9. He was 90.

Starkey's family's land decisions helped shape the landscape that residents of Land O' Lakes, Odessa and surrounding communities now use for hiking, biking, horseback riding and camping.

The Jay B. Starkey Wilderness Park, named for his father, encompasses more than 8,300 acres. Its paved trail connects with the 42-mile Suncoast Trail, while the preserve also offers hiking, biking and equestrian trails, primitive camping and cabins, according to the Southwest Florida Water Management District.

Family ranch became public preserve

Jay B. Starkey Sr. purchased the Pasco County property in 1937 and established a cattle ranch and timber operation. He donated several hundred acres to the Southwest Florida Water Management District in 1975, and the family sold additional tracts to the district over the following decades.

Those acquisitions eventually formed much of what is now the Starkey Wilderness Preserve and also provided land for a regional well field.

Starkey Jr. grew up on his father's more than 600-acre Ulmerton Ranch in Largo. He graduated from the University of Florida with a degree in animal husbandry and eventually took over the cattle operation on the family's Pasco ranch, the Tampa Bay Times reported.

His influence in Pasco extended beyond ranching. Starkey served on the Pasco County School Board during the 1970s, when rapid population growth left the district struggling to provide enough classrooms. The district temporarily turned to year-round schooling as it worked to accommodate enrollment growth.

Rancher also had a passion for music

Music was another major part of Starkey's life. He sang with the Master Chorale and played classical saxophone with the Bay Area Saxophone Quartet.

"That's just the highlight of his day was playing and performing music," his son Trey Starkey told the Tampa Bay Times.

As Pasco County continued to grow, Starkey and his sons, Trey and Frank, developed Longleaf, a village-style community designed around sidewalks, front porches and neighborhood parks.

The family also owned land that eventually became the Starkey Ranch community. The 2008 recession forced the Starkeys to sell that property to another developer.

Dewey Mitchell, a Pasco County real estate professional whose family also has deep roots in local ranching, told the Tampa Bay Times that Starkey played a major role in shaping the county as it developed.

Conservation legacy continues

Starkey is survived by four children: Trey, Sarah, Laura and Frank. Trey is married to Pasco County Commissioner Kathryn Starkey.

His daughter Laura established Heartwood Preserve, a conservation cemetery offering natural burials in woods adjacent to the wilderness preserve. Starkey was its first investor.

Starkey will be buried there beside his wife, Marsha, wearing Wrangler jeans, a white shirt and a cowboy hat. The lid of his casket was made from wood salvaged from an old barn on the original ranch.

An open-house visitation is scheduled from 4 to 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 9, at the Heartwood Preserve Welcome Center in Trinity.

A funeral service will begin at 10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 10, at Trinity Presbyterian Church of Seven Springs in New Port Richey. Burial will follow at 11:30 a.m. at Heartwood Preserve Conservation Cemetery in Trinity.