VERO BEACH — A segment of 22nd Street near the old Indian River County Courthouse could have a new name.
The children of late Judge Graham W. Stikelether Jr. have asked Councilman Tom White to bring their request before the Vero Beach City Council. The request was supposed to be discussed at the council’s last meeting but was postponed due to the length of the meeting.
“He was a very special person that not only touched many lives here in Vero Beach, but lives in so many different ways,” Deborah Kanehl, Graham Stikelether III and Lori Bass Nigalow wrote in their letter to Councilman White. “Everyone knew daddy through his law practice, being a judge, being involved in the community and his caring for people, justice and doing the right thing.”
They would like to have 22nd Street between 14th and 15th avenues renamed or designated “G.W. Stikelether Jr. Drive” or something similar.
According to the judge’s children, Stikelether always parked his car on the north side of the then-courthouse on 22nd Street.
The Vero Beach City Council earlier this year was asked to rename 14th Avenue as Main Street. Instead of completely changing the street’s name, the council agreed to add a second street sign above the original 14th Avenue sign marking it as “Main Street.”
The council could consider doing something similar for 22nd Street.
Judge Stikelether, who was 78 when he passed away in February 2009, served as an Indian River County judge from 1972 to 1984. He was a founding member and a director of the board for the Indian River County Historical Society.
The judge was also an executive vice president for the Save the Manatee Club and a member of the Vero Beach Exchange Club.
The Vero Beach City Council could take up the Stikelether family’s request at its next council meeting, which is scheduled for Sept. 7.
