Thomas Kent Wetherell

Early life Wetherell was born in Daytona Beach, Florida, to a well known pioneer family of the Daytona Beach area. His father, Thomas James Wetherell, was born in Holly Hill on February 16, 1912, and his mother was Mildred Juanita Kent Wetherell. His paternal great grandparents Thomas Wetherell (1845-1921) and Margaret Wetherell who travelled to the United States by schooner from Durham, England, arrived in the Daytona Beach area in 1876. His grandfather, Thomas Wetherell (1867–1945), was involved in many of the firsts in the area including helping build the Ponce de Leon Lighthouse. Wetherell attended Port Orange Elementary School and Mainland High School. He attended Florida State University (FSU) on a football scholarship as a wide receiver and played from 1963 to 1967. Unfortunately for Wetherell, other teammates included Fred Biletnikoff and Ron Sellers, both future hall of famers.

Political career While in Daytona, Wetherell was inspired by the success of J. Hyatt Brown, another Mainland H.S. graduate, and decided to try politics. He served as chair of the House's appropriations and education committees. He was the first FSU graduate to serve as the school's president. Later, Lee Hinkle joined Wetherell's administration as a vice president for university relations.

President Wetherell's accomplishments at FSU: Highlighted the history of FSU by erecting statues in tribute to the school's black pioneers, women's college history and past presidents. He expanded the FSU Legacy Walk begun by President Bernard F. Sliger in 1989 and added a statue and stained-glass wall for football legend Bobby Bowden. and the Chemical Sciences Laboratory (CSL) building. TK's wife, Ginger Wetherell, acted as project manager for planning, construction and furnishing of the new President's House which opened in August 2007. A new Alumni Center was completed and the old President's house renovated and renamed the Pearl Tyner Alumni Welcome Center. Wetherell married Ginger Wetherell, a former Florida state government official and state legislator; he gained two stepdaughters from the 1988 marriage. His son, T. Kent Wetherell II is a lawyer and judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida.

Oak Hill

While serving in the Florida House, T. K. Wetherell began purchasing parcels of land in the Red Hills Region of Jefferson County, Florida that would become the 983-acre Oak Hill Plantation. The property is near Lamont, an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) 30 miles east of Tallahassee. Following their wedding, the couple began planning to build a home on the property. Design inspiration for the home came from the historic Asa May house in nearby Capps, Florida. Architectural elements from historic buildings being demolished or purchased at auctions were incorporated into the plans. Tallahassee's Old Floridian Hotel was the source of four huge 19th-century windows that were placed at the ends of the main hallways on each side of the first floor. The ceilings are thirteen-feet tall to frame the jumbo windows. The staircase off the grand foyer used pine from the Old Ormond Hotel which opened in 1888 and was built by Henry Flagler. Other historic elements from the Ormond Hotel include fireplace mantels, doorknobs, and other hardware. Flooring throughout the house is heart-of-pine. Construction on a two-story Plantation house was begun in 1990 and completed the following year. There are formal living and dining rooms, a library with a comfortable reading area, a parlor with a wet bar, a chef's kitchen outfitted with high-end appliances and an informal dining area; a separate caterer’s kitchen; a butler’s pantry, an office, a Home cinema featuring pediments and light fixtures once in the old Florida Capital building, and a screened porch overlooking the landscaped backyard. The second-floor porch has a view of the lake.

Honors FSU Football Hall of Fame 1991 the 8-floor FSU University Center Building "A" was named the T.K. Wetherell Building

Wetherell had been seeing physicians at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville for several years, but in 2009 his doctors referred him to M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. His wife Ginger accompanied him to the facility in Houston and they returned every three weeks for more treatments. A close friend noted that Wetherell also loved country music, NASCAR, Blue Bell ice cream and fried food. His FSU bio claimed that his interests included athletics, hunting & fishing, aviation and travel.

He died from complications due to cancer on December 16, 2018, six days before his 73rd birthday.