Sigma Phi Epsilon - University of Florida

Sigma Phi EPSilon FratErnity florida alPha ChaPter P.o. Box 12182 gainesville, fl 32604-0182 Address Service Requested SigEp Gator Heart www.flalpha.org Baptist Children's Home in Lakeland and commissioner on the City of Cocoa Housing Authority. Bill Shelton '53 entered Chapter Eternal on July 1, 2020, at 88. He lived in Camarillo, Calif., for about 55 years. He and his future wife, Ann Mize, were both born and raised in Daytona Beach, Fla, and they attended Seabreeze High School in Daytona Beach. Bill then went to the University of Florida, while Ann went to Florida State. They had been married for almost 63 years when Ann passed away in 2015. Bill and Ann had a son, Bill Jr., and daughter, Patty. Bill joined the U.S. Navy in 1951 and was in the Korean War aboard the U.S.S. Rainier as an electronic technician. In 1957, he went to work for Sylvania Electronic Defense Laboratories in Mountain View, Calif., where he designed microwave components and wrote articles published in the Microwave Journal. He then worked in civil service at Point Mugu and Port Hueneme as an electronic engineer for the next 28 years until retirement. William Vickers '55 entered Chapter Eternal on September 14, 2020, at 86. He was a resident of Maitland, Fla. Emery Higgs '65 entered Chapter Eternal on February 3, 2020. He married his high school sweetheart, Faye Newbern, in 1962, shared 58 years of marriage, and had three children, five grandchildren, and two great-grandsons. His career began at the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Washington, D.C. He then began a successful career in management with JC Penney in Savannah, Ga., and then Florence, S.C. Always the entrepreneur, Emery decided to open a sporting goods store and then Champion Embroidery and Screen Print. Emery served on the Florence County City-County Civic Center Commission and was a long-time member of the Florence Rotary Club. Emery received the prestigious Rotary 4-Way Test Award and was a three-time Paul Harris Fellow. Norm Koestline '66 entered Chapter Eternal in Washington, N.C., on October 27, 2020, at 76. He and his wife of 52 years, Ronnie, had two daughters, Karla and Sarah, and five grandchildren. Jim Robbins '67 was very sad to hear of Norm's passing and shared, "Norm knew a lot of verses to Waltz Me around again, Willie." Norm started a long career with IBM in 1974 working as an executive in communications. He traveled extensively and attended Olympic games in Lillehammer, Atlanta, Nagano, and Sydney, serving as a director of corporate hospitality. He had the honor of carrying the Olympic torch in the relay leading up the Sydney Games in 2000. After an early retirement, Norm stayed busy as a commercial real estate developer and even became an accidental restaurateur. In 2010, he joined the Paul Funeral Home family, where he enjoyed 10 more years of post-retirement work. Norm was a member of the Washington Rotary Club, where he served as president in 2017, involved in the restoration of the Turnage Theater in Washington, and served as president of the board after the historical theater's reopening in 2008. William C. Womble Jr. '68 entered Chapter Eternal August 26, 2020, at the age of 73; he is survived by his wife, Carol Ann. He was a retired Army major, and his last duty station was the Bradley fighting vehicles at Ft. Hood, Texas. He was a veteran of the Vietnam War. Bill was a resident of Jacksonville Beach at the time of his passing. ALUMNI NEWS F. Wallace "Wally" Pope Jr. '62 recently completed 50 years of law practice as one of the founding members of Johnson, Pope, Bokor, Ruppel and Burns, LLP, which has offices in Tampa, St. Petersburg, and Clearwater, Florida. Email: wallyp@jpfirm.com John W. Hampton '63 retired January 31, 2020. He and his wife, Carol, reside in Crofton, Md. Email: hamptonjw@verizon.net Col. Alvin E. Schlechter '64 and his wife, Sandra, are enjoying retired life in northwest Florida. He shared that they are "looking forward to the return of football weekends in Gainesville while we ride out this tough time... Mezpah." Email: nivev@cox.net Joe Thigpen '66 serves as a mentor to Luke Jackson '22, who is the former SigEp vice president of the learning community. Joe shares that Luke is awesome and bets he will be president soon. He has been very impressed about what the new SigEp brothers are doing. Joe lives in Alachua, Fla. Bob Mead Jr. '67 is still practicing law. He's representing physicians around the state as a senior partner with Dean Mead, which has offices in Orlando, Viera, Fort Pierce, Tallahassee, and Vero Beach. He lives in Orlando, Fla. Email: rmead@deanmead.com Dave Lewis '79 was elected as the national vice president of the Society of American Foresters in 2016 and served as national president in 2018; he represented 11,000 foresters across the U.S. and served six years on the board of directors. Dave lives in Monticello, Fla. BROTHERHOOD BULLETIN (Continued from page 7)

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