Individual Details

Mary Roxine Bullington

(January 24, 1940 - December 25, 2014)


Mary Roxine Barthle
(Died December 25, 2014)

Barthle, Mary Roxine 74, of St. Joseph Community, passed away Thursday, December 25, 2014 at her home.

She was born January 24, 1940 in Ashburn, GA to Hubert Allen & Agnes Britt Bullington and was a longtime area resident. She was an active member of the community and Sacred Heart Catholic Church. She was the former owner and operator of Katy’s Country Corner, former City Clerk of San Antonio and co-founding several organizations including: The Sacred Heart Early Childhood Center, The Kumquat Festival and the East Pasco Tea Party Patriots.

She is survived by her husband: Charlie Barthle; 5 children: Debbie Bogert, Sandy & Tim Brown, Chris & Jennifer Gude, Cindy & Steve Randall, Stephen & Lana Barthle; 2 brothers: Durwood Bullington, Glenn Bullington; 13 grandchildren and 7 great grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her sister: Nancy Bohm. Funeral services will be held 10am Monday, December 29, 2014 at Sacred Heart Catholic Church. Interment will be at Sacred Heart Cemetery. The family will receive friends from 6-7pm Sunday evening at the church with a Rosary service to follow at 7pm. In lieu of flowers, the family request donations in her memory to either the Sacred Hearth Childhood Center or HPH Hospice.

COME TO A COUNTRY, CRAFTS, KUMQUATS KIND OF CORNER Series: Steppin' Out IN PASCO COUNTY; Steppin' Out IN HERNANDO COUNTY

St. Petersburg Times; St. Petersburg; Apr 5, 1996; BARBARA L. FREDRICKSEN;

Full Text:
Copyright Times Publishing Co. Apr 5, 1996

The lonely intersection of Scharber Road and St. Joe Road in northeast Pasco County is probably the last place you would expect to find a combination country store, luncheon spot, arts and crafts gallery and - perhaps most unusual - kumquat emporium
.
Indeed, quaint and quirky Katy's Country Corner is about as unlikely as its featured attraction, the bitterly pungent fruit known as "little golden orange" in its native China.

Still, when Roxine Barthle talks about the beloved enterprise, it all makes perfect sense.

The kumquats were already growing there. The building was there, too - albeit a somewhat rundown building. And the "want to" was there.

All it took was the loving hands of Roxine and her husband, Charlie, his dad Louis Barthle, Charlie's uncle Frank and Rosemary Gude, and friends Margie and Joe Neuhofer to turn an erstwhile gas station and cinder block house into an oasis of food and fun.

In the three years since Katy's opened in the tiny community of St. Joseph (also called St. Joe), hundreds of people have found their way there to sample kumquat pie, kumquat chutney, kumquat relish, kumquat cheesecake, kumquat bread, kumquat cake, kumquat . . . you get the idea.

"German immigrants started raising kumquats here in the early 1900s," Mrs. Barthle said. They had migrated via St. Joseph, Minn., which is where the Florida town gets its name. Charlie was born in Florida's St. Joseph, and Mrs. Barthle comes from Dade City
.
"It was the first gas station and grocery in St. Joseph," Ms. Barthle explains about Katy's site. The gas station was bulldozed to the ground, and the operator was ready to go after the rundown old cinder block house behind it.

"Frank's kids, our kids, everybody's kids came and jacked up the ceiling," Mrs. Barthle said. "After we got it all jacked up and paint put on it, we said, `This place has possibilities.' "

At first, the store sold local produce - and, of course, kumquats from the 40 acres of kumquat orchards in the community.

Then the owners started making room for paintings, handcrafts and, uh, "pre-owned" items brought in by the community's residents, and the place just took off.

There are handmade, hand-painted birdhouses by David Befert, pine needle baskets and twine dispensers by Marilyn Hines and her daughter Amber, carefully preserved alligator claws, jaws and teeth by Cindy Fagen, whose father-in-law is a local trapper, and delicate blown glass items by Tim Priest.

That's just the start. Jeanette Nathe offers her gourds painted like angels, Paul Young makes artfully interesting wooden pink flamingos (at just $30 a pair), Sarah Hauser brings her paintings from Spring Hill, and Kathy Caperelli has placed her painted ceramic figurines up for sale in the former front bedroom.

The back bedroom is where the owners put what they call "recycled stuff," everything from books to T-shirts to old lamps, all neatly arranged on boards laid across the runs of citrus grove ladders. "Lumber was too expensive to use for these shelves," Mrs. Barthle explains.

Out in the main room, the check-out counter is 2-by-12 boards laid across large, sturdy orange crates. An ancient cash register's extended drawer holds a plethora of business cards from area entrepreneurs.

A favorite is that of Issy and Alan Parker, whose Herb Gardens by Out My Back Door have become a favorite gift item. Mrs. Barthle points to a sample garden full of sweet basil, rosemary and other herbs that the Parkers planted in front of Katy's. "They come, dig up a 4-by-4 plot, work the soil, work in compost and mulch, then plant the herbs and put in stepping stones, all for about $125." Call Issy at (352) 588-4685 if you want one.

Of course, the fresh produce is still there, most of it grown right there in St. Joe, and loaves of fresh bread, some with kumquat chips or puree, line the back shelves. Southern Mill in Tampa uses Katy's kumquats for the bread.

A favorite part of Katy's happened almost by accident a year and a half ago.

"My daughter Debbie (Bogert) works at Spartan in Brooksville and wanted to bring some of her friends here to see the place," Mrs. Barthle said. Since the nearest eating place was several miles away in San Antonio (see accompanying story on Pancho's Villa), Debbie asked her mom to have something for them to eat.

"We had a little table in there, so I thought, `Why not serve lunch?' "

That one time has turned into an almost daily affair now, with up to 10 people - the capacity of the little dining area - filled with ladies' luncheon groups, birthday parties and people who simply enjoy a truly different dining experience.

For $8.99, you get fresh fruit salad, fresh green salad, chicken salad finger sandwiches, flavored coffee or tea, and a generous - verrrry generous - slice of creamy rich kumquat pie.

Reservations are required at least a day in advance and on a space-available basis. Call (352) 588-4489.

Already, tour groups are making Katy's Country Corner a stop. Recently, a group of 42 from all over the United States and Canada came and had lunch on picnic tables scattered around the big back yard. "Twenty of them sent me thank you cards and said they would be back," Mrs. Barthle said.

The group also got a tour of nearby Katy's Kumquat Growers, a sorting and packing house for several of the area's growers.

Katy's ships more than 10,000 bushels of kumquats every year, fresh ones during the season, packed in brine-filled barrels the rest of the year. Some come back as puree for bread and in jars and cans for sale.

Katy's Country Corner is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. Katy's is closed on Sunday.

[Illustration]
COLOR PHOTO, JOSEPH GARNETT JR., (3); COLOR MAP; Caption: Roxine Barthle with a basket full of vegetables, (ran PT); jars of kumquat preserves and a bunch of raw kumquats, (ran PT); an herb garden outside of Katy's Country Corner, (ran PT); locates Katy's Country Corner, (ran PT)

Copyright Times Publishing Co. Oct 14, 2000

Roxine Barthle, who owns Katy's Country Corner store in Saint Joseph, north of San Antonio. Barthle and her family live and work on 40 acres, which are loaded with kumquat trees. She says the farm is one of only three kumquat farms in the nation.

Events

BirthJanuary 24, 1940Ashburn, Turner, Georgia, USA
DeathDecember 25, 2014St Joseph, Pasco Co., FL

Families