Bob Retherford III, senior director of Cushman & Wakefield, died suddenly Sunday morning.
“He was the rock. He was steady, dependable, perpetually positive and the finest brother a person could hope to have,” said his sister, Emily Retherford Lisska.
Retherford, 71, was a Jacksonville native with 39 years of experience in commercial real estate. He focused on office and retail leasing, management and brokerage.
A graduate of Andrew Jackson High School and Jacksonville University, Retherford worked in public relations before joining the commercial real estate industry, Lisska said.
Retherford is survived by his wife, Nancy, and by a son and daughter and five grandchildren.
He was the oldest of three children. He and Lisska have a younger brother, Bill.
He was predeceased by his father, Bob Retherford II, and mother T. Marie Retherford McCall.
Services are scheduled for 4 p.m. Sept. 24 at the Jacksonville Historical Society's Old St. Andrews Church at 317 A. Philip Randolph Blvd. Near the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena.
Retherford’s longtime real estate career involved negotiating more than 1,900 leases totaling about 9.2 million square of space, according to his Cushman & Wakefield profile. He also brokered more than 250 commercial and investment sales valued about $410 million.
He also served as a court-appointed receiver for numerous properties, including office buildings, warehouses, retail centers, medical buildings and hotels.
Julie Bohn Howard, president of the NAIOP Commercial Real Estate Development Association Northeast Florida Chapter and an associate of Retherford as Cushman & Wakefield, called him an exceptional person and broker.
“The Cushman & Wakefield family is saddened,” and NAIOP will miss him, she said. Howard is director for Cushman & Wakefield’s land advisory group specializing in brokerage services.
NAIOP’s Northeast Florida chapter said Retherford was recognized with the Office Lease/Sale of the Year award in 2010 for PNC Bank and again in 2013 for AmeriHealth Caritas.
Howard said Retherford was sought out for his insights and that he will be missed.
“He was doing what he loved, which was working in the commercial real estate industry,” she said.
Lisska said that Retherford “kept his boyish good looks” and that he loved Jacksonville.
“He followed Jacksonville’s civic and political life,” she said. “He loved living here.”