Chester Clem, respected public servant, remembered

When he passed away peacefully at home last week at age 88, attorney and public servant Chester Clem left a lasting legal legacy, having shaped Indian River Shores’ town code for 40 years while passing the torch to generations of leaders he encouraged as a respected elder statesman.

A native Floridian, loyal University of Florida Gator and longtime Vero Beach resident, Clem served four years in the Florida House of Representatives, sat on the bench as a judge and even ran for governor in a Republican primary.

In addition, he maintained a wide-ranging private law practice well into his 80s, handling real estate closings, business contracts, civil disputes and zoning issues. He drew up wills, administered estates and counseled on a wide range of personal and corporate legal issues.

Accumulating all that knowledge was not the point for Clem. Sharing it with others – especially young people just learning the ropes – was his true life’s work. His sage advice often came in the form of a parable. Clem was famous for telling stories and loved listening, too.

Former Florida legislator and tax collector Charlie Sembler learned of Clem’s passion for mentoring back in 1989. Clem heard Sembler, a commercial fisherman, was considering a run for Florida House and he took Sembler and his wife Beth under his wing, laying out the high expectations and pitfalls of public service.

“Chester and Kay invited Beth and I out to the old Riomar Club that’s now Quail Valley. He was always so generous with his time and sharing his wisdom,” Sembler said. “I guess he saw something in me and thought I was worth it. But when I did something he didn’t like, he called me on it.”

After Sembler took office, he frequently met with Clem to brainstorm. “There were lots of Friday evenings with Chester at the old Patio restaurant after I’d get back into town,” Sembler said. “He loved the old Patio.”

When Sembler, just 33 years old, was approaching his term limit, Clem challenged him to pay it forward.

“When I was chair of the General Government Appropriations Committee I asked Chester, is there anything I can do for you? He told me to find a young member to mentor,” Sembler said.

Soon after, a 28-year-old freshman House member from South Florida approached Sembler to ask for help with a bill important to his district. Sembler helped the newbie out and got to know him in the process. He told the young man he admired his floor speeches and the way he carried himself, and the newbie told Sembler that he hoped to be speaker one day.

“I assured him he’d be doing way bigger things than that,” Sembler said, which turned out to be true, since that freshman legislator, Marco Rubio, went on to be a United States senator and is now U.S. secretary of state.

“Marco wouldn’t remember me. That was all Chester, always focused on building up the next generation of leaders,” Sembler said.

Clem and Sembler’s friendship endured for decades. Visits got more laid-back as Clem traded his trademark suit-and-tie for denim and boots, his office for the outdoors, but remained whip-smart, kind-hearted and funny to the end.

“Chester was the kind of person, well, when I heard he had passed, time stopped,” Sembler said, adding that Clem ranks among the greats who built Indian River County into what it is today.

Former law partner Louis “Buck” Vocelle also enjoyed a decades-long friendship with Clem and said tagging along with Clem on his travels could get interesting. Vocelle remembers meeting with billboard-famous attorney John Morgan as Clem’s son Zander got in on the ground floor of Morgan’s personal injury legal dynasty.

“It was quite an evening,” Vocelle said. “John gave Chester and I the opportunity to invest in Wonder Works, the upside-down kids’ museum on International Drive [in Orlando]. We declined. What a mistake that was!”

Vocelle described Clem as a very steady hand in the law firm.

“He was always the humble voice of reason. Before I wrote any nasty letter or considered taking a course of action, I would always bounce it off Chester. He was the guy that would tell you to let a letter sit for two or three days and think about it before you sent it,” Vocelle said. “He was an incredible sounding board.

“I never heard Chester raise his voice,” Vocelle said. “He always maintained an even keel. He was a humble man who exuded civility and compassion. A true Southern gentleman in every sense of the word.”

Vocelle said that when Clem served in elected office and ran for governor, he aimed to represent not just educated professionals and well-to-do folks, but people from all walks of life.

Clem was preceded in death by his wife, former Supervisor of Elections Kay Clem. He is survived by sons Zander, Jeff, and Chester III, twin daughters Liz Clem Parrish and Mary Kate, and four grandchildren. A celebration of life is planned for 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at the Heritage Center in downtown Vero.