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- Louise Bass, 96, Free-Spirited Pioneer
By Liz Torres (Picture included)
ltorres@news-press.com
Louise Bass, whose father was one of Fort Myers first pioneers and one of the largest land holders in Lee County, died Thursday of heart failure. She was 96.
?She was a lovely person. She saw something goo din anybody, never heard her say a disparaging word about a person,? said Sunshine Bobo, her friend.
Bass was adopted in 1908 by Dr. Franklin Miles and his wife, Elizabeth. She was educated on the plantation they owned. Her father built a schoolhouse and hired a tutor to teach Bass and 10 of her cousins.
Her family says she was highly influenced by her father. Basws considered herself fortunate to grown up as privileged as she did.
Franklin Miles was the founder of Miles Laboratory Inc., which creatged Alka-Seltzer.
In 1906, he began buying land in Southwest Florida, eventually accumlatijng more than 16,000 acores. Much of the land was riverfront property in Fort Myers, and half of what is now Cape Coral.
Miles had plantations of experimental agriculture. He was the first to cultivate the Irish potato and gladiolus. He taught many Southwest Floridians how to grow vegetables other than tomatoes and sweet potatoes.
The family raised livestock and had many horses. ZBass loved caring for and riding the horses. She performed as a trick rider at shows.
The red-headed Bass was free spirited, unwilling to conform to the expectations placed on her as a woman. When she was a teenager, she once tore off her skirt and rode through town on her horse wearing only her bloomers.
She had a deep appreciation for the wildlife that inhabited her father?s land. She often rode her horse along the Coloosahatchee admiring nature.
In 1925 she married Donald Bass, a cattle herder who later became a potato farmer.
?She was such a loving and caring person. Always looked out for all of us,? said daughter Sidnay Ann Brimson, 64.
?She was a lovely lady.?
James Bass said his mother was a prankster. In her younger days, she was often mischievous with her family and friends.
?She was quite a character,? said James Bass, 60.
Bass was such a skilled shooter she taught many Lee County sheriff?s deputies how to shoot, according to her family, She consecutively won the turkey shooting contest so many times, she was asked not to participate anymore.
?She used to give the best advice and the best little stories. She was an incredible woman,? said grand-daughter Jennifer Bsss, 26.
In the 1960s she opened Bass Farms, where she raised Arabian horses to show and sell internationally.
For 10 years she designed and decorated stages for the Edison Festival of Ligyht Grand Parade. She also volunteered at the Edicon Winter Estate arranging fresh flowers.
?She is the passing of an era,? said Bobo.
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Bassett Family Association Database
1904 - 2002 (97 years)