The Villages lost two legendary leaders in 2023, who were extremely important in the early days of The Villages.
Pete Wahl, 78, of resident of the Village of de Allende, died Sept. 28 at Cornerstone Hospice in The Villages.
He was named the first District manager of The Villages in 1995. Wahl, who was succeeded by Janet Tutt, then Richard Baier and later current District Manager Kenny Blocker, really would set the course for the job which has been so integral to the success of The Villages.
Wahl had served as county administrator for Lake and Brevard counties. He truly took a leap of faith when he joined up with Founder Harold Schwartz and his son H. Gary Morse in those days – and he hit the ground running.
When Wahl came aboard, The Villages wasn’t much more than a fancy trailer park with several hundred mobile homes. The Villages was just beginning to embark on site-built homes across U.S. Hwy. 27/441 from the Historic Side. The golf cart bridge crossing U.S. Hwy. 27/441 was just two years old. County Road 466 was still a two-lane country road and acres upon acres of vacant land existed west of Morse Boulevard. And Spanish Springs Town Square was still mostly in the development stages.
You can read his obituary at this link.
Gary Moyer, 74, passed away Sept. 21.
Moyer teamed up with H. Gary Morse in the early 1990s and was critical to the unparalleled success of The Villages. He served as vice president of development for The Villages until 2018. He served on the Village Center Community Development District Board of Supervisors and was the Developer’s designated representative on the Amenity Authority Committee up until 2019.
Moyer helped state legislators write the law creating special districts. At one point, his firm was managing 250 special districts and municipalities in the Sunshine State.
The Moyer Recreation Center in the Village of Pine Ridge was named in Moyer’s honor. It opened in 2016. Moyer played a pivotal role in the acquisition of the Pine Ridge Dairy property in Fruitland Park and working with the city’s leaders to pave the way for The Villages entry there.
