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WILLARD
ETHEREDGE ROE – 87 -
Winter Haven - Willard Etheredge Roe, 87, passed
away on Saturday, October 28, 2006 at his home due to heart failure. Born May 15, 1919, to
William G. Roe and Rosa Etheredge Roe, he was a
native of Winter Haven and graduated from Winter Haven High
School in
1937. He went on to attend Princeton University, where he
graduated
with a degree in political science in 1941. Mr. Roe immediately entered
the Army as a lieutenant, training at Fort Carson, Colorado.
From Fort
Carson, his battalion went on to train at Camp Hale with the 10th
Mountain Division in the mountains of Colorado's Gore Range. He entered
the WWII European theatre and led his battalion to move artillery by
pack mule over the Apennine Mountain Range in the Western Italian Alps
in the winter of 1944. He was stationed in Italy and France throughout
the war and honorably discharged at war's end as a Lieutenant Colonel.
He returned from service and with his brother, Fred, transformed their father's citrus business into Wm. G. Roe & Sons, a worldwide packer, shipper and marketer of high quality specialty citrus products; the firm is still active today. Mr. Roe was president of The Florida Club and Florida Citrus Showcase, president and founding member of Florida Citrus Production Managers, founding member and second Commodore of Lake Region Yacht and Country Club. He also served as chairman and board member of Winter Haven Hospital, president and chairman of the Board of Cypress Gardens Citrus Products, president of Citrus Growers Associates and past chairman and board member of Growers Fertilizer for numerous years. He served on the board of the Florida Citrus Hall of fame, where he was honored for his lifetime achievements in 1992. In addition to welcoming and hosting celebrities to the Winter Haven area in the early 70's on behalf of the citrus industry, he was a model train enthusiast with an extensive train collection, an avid hunter and antique MG car enthusiast, both active and a long-standing member and rally organizer of the Gathering of The Faithful Central Florida MG Owners Club and the original owner of several vintage models. He was also a pivotal and early supporter of music education in Polk County, and an accomplished musician in his own right. He is preceded in death by his daughter,
Marjorie Rosemary Roe, 1959-1986.
Survivors include his wife of 57 years, Marjorie
Henderson Roe, of Winter Haven; six children, Ellen Roe
Miller of
Winter Haven, Donna Roe Daniell of Boulder, Colorado, William Gee Roe
II, Martha Roe Burke, and Quentin James Roe, of Winter Haven, and
Morgan Henderson Roe, Tijuana, Mexico; 13 grandchildren; and extended
family and friends.
Memorial services will take place on
Saturday, Nov. 4, 2006, at First Presbyterian Church of Winter Haven
with a reception to follow in McLeod Hall.
The family will receive
friends for visitation on Wednesday, Nov.1, 2006 at Crisp- Coon Funeral
Home. In lieu of flowers, contributions to support Willard E. Roe's
lifetime commitment to the Florida citrus industry can be made to the
University of Florida Foundation, "Willard E. Roe Recognition Fund" and
should be forwarded to: UF/IFAS Citrus Research and Education Center,
700 Experiment Station road, Lake Alfred, Florida, 33850.
- ( Ledger, October 31, 2006 )
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