Captain Billy Hershey

Captain Billy Hershey

Captain Billy Hershey

August 09, 1951~November 04, 2019

Captain Billy Hershey, age 68, of Pembroke Pines, Florida, passed away peacefully Monday, November 4, 2019. He was born in Frankfurt, Germany on Thursday, August 9, 1951.

Captain Billy had spent more than 45 years learning about and working with seafood and particularly with South Florida’s delicacy – the stone crabs. Soon after moving with his parents to South Florida in 1967, he went to work for Joe’s Stone Crabs as the manager of the company’s wholesale division. Several years later, he left Joe’s to open a wholesale and retail stone crab business of his own in Miami Springs.

A restaurant on the premises with an all-you-can-eat stone crabs concept soon followed. For many years, Billy’s Stone Crab on the Circle in Miami Springs was an institution. In 1981, he sold that restaurant and opened Billy’s on Biscayne Bay, a waterfront seafood restaurant on the 79th Street Causeway in Miami, a much larger facility right on the water. In 1995, he opened Billy’s Stone Crab Restaurant in Hollywood, another fine spot for waterfront dining, today’s Hollywood’s Landmark, known across the Globe.

The emergence of overnight refrigerated carriers in the mid-1980s made it possible to ship fresh stone crab claws in a single day to customers all over the United States. Captain Billy supplied hotels, restaurants, country clubs, as well as consumers with fresh stone crabs and seafood from around the Nation.

Captain Billy and his wife Elena have managed the restaurant as a family team and enjoyed spending time together brainstorming, reinventing and refining the family business. Captain Billy himself and his family found much inspiration from loving the South Florida Waters, fishing and boating with family and friends and traveling world-wide. Their day-to-day involvement and dedication to the Restaurant’s success and the family business was always the outlet of their passion for creating an extraordinary experience in people’s lives by providing top quality, old fashioned, elegant dining in the heart of Hollywood.

In 2013 Billy’s older son Brian joined the business. Billy and Elena continued to work and expanded the business with Brian on Summerland Key, where Billy’s Stone Crab (BSC) Fisheries was born. Today, a fleet of over 35 independent fishing boats including BSC’s own fishing boat, has become the major supplier and the seafood authority for stone crabs and lobsters for South Florida, from Stock Island and the Lower Matecumbe Florida Keys. Not only does Billy’s Stone Crab Restaurant and Market in Hollywood get the best seafood products, they also provide only the finest quality to all their nationwide customers via their website www.crabs.com.

Billy wholeheartedly supported our community and the organizations which added quality to people’s lives – from the
“Greater Fort Lauderdale Chamber Of Commerce” to the “Art and Culture Center of Hollywood”, “The Boys and Girls Club”, “The Memorial Regional Hospital and JDM Hospital, “Symphony Of the Americas” and “FRLA”, “Suits Stilettos and Lipstick”, Women Empowerment Organization’s to the “Footlighters Club” (which supports the entertainers and musicians), just to name a few. Billy always believed in giving back and supporting his community.

Even though Elena was the one carrying the torch and initiating community involvement, Billy mostly stayed out of the public eye although he loved and did everything, he could to support Elena’s efforts in philanthropy and building or improving upon our community!

Billy was a “One-of-a-Kind” for sure. To him, Team Billy’s was his Family. Every single member of the team had a special place in his heart. Some joined and stayed with Billy for over 20-30 years, some passed through briefly. Billy loved to be a mentor and openly shared his knowledge with everyone who crossed his path.

On days outside of work, Billy loved golfing with his buddies at Grand Palm Golf Course in Pembroke Pines and riding on his Harley motorcycle with Elena and their friends. To Billy, his life’s work, all his children and family, cousins in South Carolina and his dear friends were everything! Billy was an extraordinary human being and touched so many lives in so many meaningful ways.

Billy and Elena were so blessed with all the doctors and staff at the UM Sylvester Cancer Center who are absolutely the best, most caring team of staff and nurses around. They tirelessly attend to patients with cancer as if they were their own family. In the last few months of Billy’s grandiose life, Dr. Lekakis and his team of stem cell doctors, nurses, and hospital staff became Billy and Elena’s home away from home. The help and support each one of them provided was unsurpassed. The team of Doctors – Dr. Gonzalez, Dr. Alves, Dr. Gup, Dr. Markoe, all became an important part of Billy’s life. Billy and Elena’s closest friends Tommy, (Thanases Antonopoulos) Bess and Don Scully, Will and Tina (Katharina) Savoy, Peggy Antonopoulos as well as their children, sister and cousins, Debbie and Joe Harter, as well as their SC Family, were all by his side. Billy found his internal peace and ready for his new life’s adventure. Billy was sincerely loved not only in his home country of the United States of America, but also across the globe – from Russia, Bulgaria, Greece, Latvia, Ukraine, Italy, Germany, Austria, Sweden, South America, and the Bahamas. Rest in Peace Captain Billy. You are forever in our hearts.  

Captain Billy is preceded in death by his parents, Army Colonel Lyle Eugene Hershey and Ada Claudia (Mims) Hershey, his brother Robert Thomas Hershey and his Mother-in-Law Lilyana Sumkina.

Captain Billy is survived by his beloved wife, Elena S. Hershey; his loving children, Jessica Hershey Uchuya, Lauren Hershey, Brian C. Hershey, Robert Thomas Sergei Hershey, Alexander Jordan Lyle Hershey; his cherished grandchildren, Alexandria, Iyana, and Brady; sister, Carolyn Hershey; nieces, Maria and Valeria; Father-in-Law Sergey Sumkin, and Brother-in-Law Alexander Sumkin.

A “Celebration of Life” for Captain Billy will be held on Thursday, November 14, 2019 from 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM, with “Tributes of a Lifetime” at 8:00 PM at Boyd-Panciera Family Funeral Care, University Drive Chapel. 

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center in memory of Billy Hershey and/or the Stem Cell Transplant Fund #701237. Checks should be made payable to UM Sylvester and mailed to Sylvester Development Office, P.O. Box 016960 (M-867), Miami, FL 33101, http://www.miami.edu/givesylvester or by phone at 305-243-9088.

Condolence

Kathy Cherasia (Live Oak Fl.)

November 6, 2019, 12:00 am

To my boss in heaven.RIP my man. You were a real warrior always. You taught me the seafood business back in 83. You were always a friend to our family The Cherasia's.

CATINA Moss

November 6, 2019, 12:00 am

Rest in paradise

Dr. Natacha Yacinthe (Hollywood, Fl)

November 7, 2019, 12:00 am

My condolences. Rest in Peace Captain.

Patrick J Mason (Davie)

November 8, 2019, 12:00 am

"They who sailed the sea in ships, trading on the deep waters,
These saw the works of the Lord and his wonders in the abyss…….
He hushed the storm to a gentle breeze, and the billows of the sea were stilled;
They rejoiced that they were calmed, and He brought them to their desired haven."
Psalm 107:23-24,29-30
God bless you Elena and your family.

Rose Marcial (Hollywood)

November 9, 2019, 12:00 am

Captain Billy touch my life in a way not too many patients do. Elena you are a warriors queen. It was my pleasure serving both of you. I will always remember all the family. RIP Captain is time to sail away.

Chris Hummer (Sterling, VA)

November 12, 2019, 12:00 am

I only met Billy once, but he could not have been more gracious and kind. He clearly loved his children, the dogs, his many small oasis around their beautiful home (I think I saw a Harley under a bubble in the garage?), and his loving, capable and adoring wife Elena. Having lost my own father, and founder of our own family business, to cancer recently, my message to the children is remember the love, the good times, the life lessons, and the business lessons – in that order. In a few months he will visit you in your dreams, and you can actually have a conversation. It's a wonderful feeling, and great way to keep him in your life forever.

Nanlee and Marcus Potter (Indian Trail, NC)

November 14, 2019, 12:00 am

Our condolences to you and your family on the passing of your Father. May our friendship and prayers ease you through this difficult time.

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