'Treated all of them with respect': Former Lakeland Police Chief Ronald Nenner dies at 94

LAKELAND – For 30 years, Ronald Nenner served as the City of Lakeland’s police chief and through more than three decades of service, he was known as a police chief who worked to bring security for Lakeland, its business owners and residents.

Nenner’s final call came Sunday. He died at 94 at the Lakeland home of his daughter, Wendy Adolphson, and son-in-law, Dr. Curits Adolphson of heart disease.

Nenner decided to become a police patrol officer with the Lakeland Police Department in 1960 at 30 years old, worked as a motorcycle patrol officer for 10 years and then spent the majority of his career as an investigator. He was lieutenant of the Criminal Investigation Unit and in 1982 appointed to captain of that division.

But although he retired from the Lakeland police force in 1990, his legacy as a law enforcement officer, police chief and a Lakeland resident known for mentorship and respect will remain. He began as the LPD’s chief in April 1987.

A big part of Nenner’s career legacy comes from his duty as head of security for former President Jimmy Carter’s Oct. 31, 1980, campaign visit to Lakeland.

That day, after leaving Columbia, South Carolina, Carter landed at 11 a.m. at the Lakeland Municipal Airport. He was greeted by former Lakeland Mayor Carrie Oldham and then headed to what was then the Lakeland Civic Center, now the RP Funding Center, for a Jimmy Carter-Walter Mondale re-election campaign event.

During his visit, LPD Officer Edgar Pickett Jr. worked with the FBI and identified a local suspect in a possible threat to assassinate Carter. By 1:38 p.m., Carter and Mondale took off for Memphis, Tennessee.

As LPD police chief, Nenner oversaw the visit. But it wasn’t just overseeing security for Carter and Mondale’s visit that stood out among Nenner’s duties as chief.

Frank O’Reilly, 89, who served as mayor when Nenner was on the police force, said the former police chief has an easy-going demeanor in his strict dedication to duty and was overall a “good person.”

O’Reilly was mayor in 1983, 1987 and from 1989 to 1993. He was a career accountant and was Lakeland’s first elected mayor in 1989. He also worked as a city commissioner for eight years.

From his home, O’Reilly said Nenner’s staff loved and respected him, and his legacy was in his ability to motivate and encourage his staff to “make up a wonderful police force.” He said the last time he saw Nenner was about four years ago when he brought dinners to Nenner's South Lakeland home as a volunteer with Volunteers in Service to the Elderly (VISTE).

“He was really nice and a great chief of police,” he said. “He was a very, very fair, honest and very equal with his men and women; he treated all of them with respect.”

Nenner oversaw the LPD with as many as 145 officers on staff. The department currently has about 260 sworn officers on duty, according to Stephanie Kerr, LPD public information officer.

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One of those currently with the LPD is Chief Sammy Taylor, who was hired by Nenner in February 1989. He said Nenner was one of the only chiefs he’s known in his 35 years on the force that got promoted from captain directly to chief, skipping over duties as a major and assistant chief.

He said he last saw his former chief in 2016 when Nenner’s wife, Joy, died. He said Nenner's legacy was in his desire to help out younger and newer officers, particularly those in the detective division.

“I have a special place in my heart for him. Anytime you can go with 25 years of service and walk out of here with a good name intact and good reputation, it’s great,” Taylor said. “He was kind of a quiet guy, but when he spoke, you paid attention.”

Nenner was born to Bernard and Sophia Nenner in Long Island, New York and was the grandson of a rabbi. After high school and two years in the U.S. Navy, Nenner married Joy Thomann, his wife of 65 years, and they moved to Florida after selling the dry-cleaning plant and stores. He graduated from the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia, on protection of US government leaders.

Nenner had a daughter, Wendy Adolphson (husband, Dr. Curtis Adolphson) of Lakeland and Clearwater; a grandson, Alex Adolphson of Gainesville; a son, Stephen Nenner (Rosemary) of Kingston, Tennessee, and granddaughters Katherine and Christine of Tennessee. He also has a sister, Elissa Silverberg of New York and nephews Jay and Roy Silverberg.

Services for Nenner are pending and will be announced.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Ronald Nenner, former Lakeland police chief, dies at 94