By Jane Musgrave
SOUTH PALM BEACH — When Robert Kellogg was hired as manager of South Palm Beach in 2019, Mayor Bonnie Fischer said she got more than a wise administrator. She got a comedy sidekick.
During normally staid meetings, the two would banter back and forth. “What would you do if I did that?” she remembered asking Kellogg when he was defending an elderly condominium owner who faced code enforcement charges. “I’d throw the book at you,” Mr. Kellogg shot back.
“It was so light. It was very fun,” said Fischer. “I’ve never been like that with anyone in my life. Neither one of us knew where it came from.”
Mr. Kellogg — who was raised near Akron, Ohio, and spent his career administering small towns in Ohio and coastal Florida — died Jan. 12 in a hospital near his hometown. He was 70.
Jacqueline Kellogg said her husband of 37 years had succumbed to COPD and emphysema, brought on by a lifetime of smoking.
True to his wishes, his family and friends wore Ohio State University shirts and hats to his funeral. “He wanted it to be a celebration of his life, not for people to come to mourn,” his wife said. Though a graduate of Kent State, he was buried in an OSU jersey and his casket was draped in scarlet and gray, the colors of his beloved Buckeyes.
During the 17 years he worked in Florida, which included prior stops in Sewall’s Point and Hillsboro Beach, he would travel back to Ohio on weekends for Buckeye home games.
An avid traveler, he and his wife visited all 50 states and many countries in Europe. On his 70th birthday, he took his wife, three children and their families on a cruise to Mexico. Even with his time running out, he continued making travel plans, Jacqueline Kellogg said. Shortly before his death, he suggested to his two sons that they all go to this year’s Super Bowl.
His work in South Palm Beach was initially consumed by the coronavirus pandemic. During the initial phase, he established a testing site in the Town Hall parking lot and helped shepherd the town of 1,400 residents through the crisis.
He also laid the groundwork for a new Town Hall, Fischer said. When he left in May, he asked her to invite him to the grand opening of the building that is still in the planning stages. “It saddens me that he wouldn’t see it accomplished,” she said.
Although committed to his job in South Palm Beach, he never lived there. He commuted to work from his home in Palm City. He also had a long-distance marriage. His wife remained in Ohio, where she worked as an executive with Columbia Gas, and they traveled to be together on weekends.
“It was different, but it worked for us,” she said.
Town employees lauded Mr. Kellogg for both his work ethic and his sense of humor. “He was kind, intelligent and funny, which made him the perfect sounding board,” one wrote in an online tribute. “He always knew the right thing to say.”
Jacqueline Kellogg said her husband was drawn to small towns. “He liked to be close to the people of the town and the employees,” she said.
When Mr. Kellogg decided to step down, he initially offered to stay through November, Fischer said. In retrospect, she said, she’s glad he didn’t. He got extra time to spend with his family and to travel. “At least he had some semblance of retirement.”
In addition to his wife, Mr. Kellogg is survived by three children, Kory (Susan) Kellogg of Plano, Texas; Kelli (Jeremy) Welch of Haslet, Texas; and Carter Kellogg of Palm City, who is named after Jimmy Carter, his father’s favorite president. He is also survived by three grandchildren, two great-grandchildren, a sister and a brother. He was preceded in death by a sister.
A moment of silence was observed in Mr. Kellogg’s honor at the town’s Jan. 16 council meeting.
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