Sandra Post, a Fort Lauderdale businesswoman with Italian restaurants, boutiques and motels, died of ovarian cancer on Valentine's Day in hospice care, her family said. She was 85 years old.
Born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, where she was a Girl Scout, Post had been in the real estate business since 1966. She was a model in high school, got married at 18, and started a family soon after.
Her daughter Patti Post said she was a “self-made woman.” “She lived her life according to her own will. She raised me to always look out for myself and never expect anyone to support and save me. Live the life you want to live.”
“We had the best mother,” said Patti Post, who teaches her children to be kind to animals and each other. “She wanted us to grow up to be good, kind and helpful people, to live great lives and help others along the way.”
The mother and daughter team worked together at Post & Post Inc., a real estate company. This company he opened in 1977, two years after he moved to South Florida.
In the mid-1980s, a mother and daughter team founded Big Louie's restaurants in South Florida. The restaurants, including two locations in Fort Lauderdale, will eventually be sold to Bobby Rubino's Corporation.
Sandra Post's grandparents were born in Sicily and she has Italian roots, but it wasn't until she found the perfect location that she came up with the idea. Instead of “ready, aim, fire,” Patti Post took a more nontraditional action. He said, “Get the building, (then) figure out what to do with it,” she said.
The popular restaurant's namesake was amused by a guest who asked where Louis was and instead pointed to Sandra Post.
“Big Louie is a coined name,” Patti Post said. “She was a very cute, petite woman who thought it was fun to think that this great guy named Louis was in charge. She was like his alter ego.”
From 1985 to 1990, the Posts owned the A1A Atlantic Inn in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea.
And when the Post purchased the building at 3300 E. Oakland Park Blvd. I had extra space to run my real estate business that I couldn't afford to waste. So they opened his Star Collection boutique in 1993. In 1997, XS Magazine named the retailer the “Best Designer Boutique in Broward and Palm Beach Counties.” The boutique was open for several years.
Sandra Post was ahead of her time in purchasing commercial land along the Galt Ocean Mile in 1999 and working to “change the fabric of the area” by getting permits for outdoor dining, Patti Post said. said. She ended up being loaned out to five restaurants. The couple had resold 650 condos in Hermitage, where they had lived since 1997, her daughter said.
Patti Post said they worked at the motel in the morning, filling 10 rooms, and in the afternoon they sold the property and got to the restaurant in time for the dinner rush.
The Posts sold Atlanta native Mike Monk their Hermitage condo 13 years ago and have remained close friends ever since. They tend to do that with their customers as well, Monk said, learning about new communities and meeting people so they know who to call if they need anything.
“I went to dinner many times,” he said. “I felt that way every time someone new moved into the building. It was about becoming part of the community, and that was what was great about them.”
Sandra Post “never said an unkind word about anyone. She was a very sweet woman, very caring and always helpful.”
Sandra Post and Big Louise were the subject of news stories in 1988 when she and her store manager were accused of violating regulations.
The charges were later dismissed. Post claimed he had publicly supported a friend running for a seat on the City Commission. As balloons went up and pamphlets were handed out, she said her friend, an opponent of the city commissioners, swarmed the pizzeria with code inspectors, accusing it of letting 29 people in when it only had a capacity of 22. insisted.
“She was traumatized and embarrassed. We were never political and she was just trying to help a friend,” Patti Post said.
Sandra Post testified in federal court in her lawsuit that she was so troubled by the city's actions that she sold Big Louie's for $1.1 million in 1988. The lawsuit was dismissed in 1995, ending nearly seven years of litigation over whether city officials used it. Political influence to make pizzerias suffer. Patti Post said she set out to “clear her name.”
In addition to her daughter, Patty Post, of Fort Lauderdale, Sandra Post is survived by her son, Daniel Post, of Lauderdale-by-the-Sea; three grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.
Sandra Post never retired from the real estate industry. In her own way, she chose not to have a funeral, memorial service, or memorial service for her.
Lisa J. Huriash can be reached at [email protected]. Follow @LisaHuriash on X (formerly Twitter)
