Husband of Katherine Harris commits suicide, police say11/19/13
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20131119/ARTICLE/131119595/2066/NEWS?Title=UPDATE-Husband-of-Katherine-Harris-commits-suicide-police-saySARASOTA - Sarasota Police are investigating the apparent suicide of Anders Ebbeson, husband of former congresswoman and Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris.
Police were called to the couple’s house in the 1400 block of Sarasota’s Bay Point Drive about 7:30 a.m. Tuesday.
Police and Pastor William Hild of downtown Sarasota’s First Baptist Church confirmed that Ebbeson, a 68-year-old Swedish businessman, had taken his own life and asked the community to respect the family’s privacy.
“On behalf of the family, Katherine’s husband took his own life,” Hild said outside the home on Bay Point Drive on Tuesday morning. “They are asking for privacy, prayer, thoughts and love from the community.”
“Anders has been suffering health conditions that he’d been attempting to deal with, which had been increasingly part of his life,” Hild said.
Police Chief Bernadette DiPino said that Harris wanted the community to know that her husband was “no longer suffering.”
The police chief asked that “the community respect the family at this difficult time.”
Friends described Ebbeson as a source of considerable support for Harris in her post-political endeavors.
Harris, a Republican, retired from public life after losing a U.S. Senate race to incumbent Democrat Bill Nelson in 2006. She was then serving in the House of Representatives, a post she was first elected to in 2002.
She became a household name while Florida’s secretary of state because of the disputed 2000 Florida recount that ultimately made George W. Bush president.
While Harris was a political star and running for four different offices in a dozen years, Ebbeson veered from the spotlight and rarely was on the campaign trail with Harris.
Those who worked closely with Harris on her campaigns say Ebbeson was a quieting force who stayed away from the day-to-day details of the campaigns but was supportive of Harris.
“In the always frenetic political world, he was the calm in the storm,” said Adam Goodman, a political strategist who worked with Harris on each of her campaigns dating back to 1994, when she first ran for the Florida Senate.
Goodman said it was hard to talk about Ebbeson without thinking of the words calm and class.
Spouses are often the toughest critics during a campaign and sometimes too involved in the effort. But not Ebbeson. He was sometimes involved in key meetings, but mostly listened and did not try to object to a strategy or second-guess decisions.
“He was happy to be in the background, but he was always supportive of Katherine,” said Jamie Miller, Harris’ campaign manager for her final run for public office in 2006.
The couple met on a blind date at the opera.
They were married in September 1996 while she was still a state legislator, holding two ceremonies: a civil ceremony in Port Charlotte and also one on New Year’s Eve that year in Paris.
Ebbeson was born in Halmstead, Sweden.
His father owned a manufacturing firm called Origoverken, which made disparate products ranging from appliances to car seatbelts.
Ebbeson and his brothers sold the company to Electrolux in 1986, published reports state.
In 1992, he created InterCon Marketing Inc. of Sarasota, state records show. The business is the exclusive distributor of Contoure and other appliances in the United States.
He is also listed as the officer or owner of 10 other businesses in Florida, including Origo USA Inc., Travel-Design International Inc., Elidus-Termex International Inc., A&N Marine Corp., Components Concepts Inc. and Contoure International Inc.
InterCon, which is based at 1540 Northgate Blvd., had revenue of $5 million to $25 million annually, according to reports.
The businesses helped Ebbeson and Harris to build a 16,000-square-foot, waterfront house at 1420 Bay Point Drive in Sarasota.
In addition to his businesses, Ebbeson was an avid golfer and gourmet chef, whose other hobbies included racing cars and art.
A native of Sweden, Ebbeson became a U.S. citizen in 2000.
He divorced his first wife, Margita, in 1990. The couple had been married 16 years, according to reports.
Ebbeson is survived by Harris, two brothers and a daughter, Louise.
Earlier
Sarasota Police are investigating a “call” made in the 1400 block of Bay Point Drive in the city.
The posh neighborhood is the home of former Congresswoman and Florida secretary of state Katherine Harris.
Police have cordoned off an area near the end of Bay Point Drive where the road meets Gulfview Drive, leaving only a few homes behind the lines.
Police were dispatched between 7:30 a.m. and 8 a.m., according to police reports.
“They are on a call. It's under investigation,” said Sarasota Police spokeswoman Genevieve Judge.
Judge said she has no idea when more information would be released.