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Corinne Vandewalker, 79, Teacher
COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Teaching the written word was the passion of Mrs. Corinne Elizabeth "Betty" Vandewalker's professional life.
Mrs. Vandewalker, of Columbia, Mo., and a former Lakeland resident, died of complications from Parkinson's disease on Thursday (April 7, 2005). She was 79.
Born in Wauchula on Jan. 14, 1926, she moved to Lakeland from Wauchula as an infant. After graduating from Lakeland High School in 1943, she moved to Tallahassee to attend Florida State College, where she received her bachelor of arts in education.
After graduating, she moved to Gainesville to be with her World War II veteran husband, Lew Vandewalker, while he attended the University of Florida. While in Gainesville, she supported her husband through college as a social worker. Upon his graduation, the couple moved to St. Louis, where she worked as a social worker and then a high school teacher until the birth of her son in 1951.
She was an accomplished singer in college and was a member of a choir in St. Louis, San Antonio, and later Cheyenne, Wyo. After retiring from the Cheyenne Public School System as a teacher, she returned to Lakeland and moved into her mother's house, where she began gardening. She was also employed by the Polk County School District as an elementary school teacher.
Daughter Debra McNally describes how her mother's loyalty to Florida intertwined with her teaching. "My mother was extraordinarily proud of being a native Floridian. In fact, her favorite subject to teach in elementary education was Florida history."
While in Lakeland, she was actively involved with her high school reunion planning and the ADK educational sorority. She was also a volunteer teacher with the Read Lakeland program.
McNally said, "She assisted adults in improving their reading skills. She thoroughly enjoyed it. . . . She loved the written word."
She lived in Lakeland for 26 years, until the summer of 2002. She then moved to Columbia, Mo., to be with her family and lived in an assisted living home.
Mrs. Vandewalker is survived by her son, Mark Vandewalker of Columbia, Mo.; daughters, Debra McNally of Picayune, Miss., and Sara Vandewalker of Denver, Colo.; brother, Lamar Pooser of Lakeland; three grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.
Visitation will be from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday at Heath Funeral Chapel. Services will be at 10 a.m. Saturday at the funeral home chapel.
Raiford Langdale, 86, Business Owner
WAHNETA -- Mr. Raiford Langdale was a hard-working man who put in long days running his businesses, Langdale Service Station in Wahneta and B & L Tire in Lakeland.
The retired business owner died of heart complications Friday (April 8, 2005) at home. He was 86.
"People that needed help and he just heard about it, he helped them, " his daughter, Nancy Langdale of Wahneta said. "When they first started the Wahneta Fire Department, for years he supplied all the gas for the fire trucks."
Born in Worth County, Ga., on Nov. 9, 1918, he grew up on a farm in Sylvester. He came to Wahneta from Moore Haven in 1950. Before starting his own businesses, Mr. Langdale worked as a foreman for the Bartow Air Base.
"When the Bartow Air Base closed down, they let him tear down an airport hangar and take the blocks. He built the (gas) station out of those blocks and his house is made out of those blocks too, " Nancy Langdale said.
Mr. Langdale simultaneously operated the gas station and the tire shop along with the help of his wife and children.
"Mama ran the station during the day, and he ran the tire store, then he would come home about 6 p.m. and then he would stay at the station until 10 at night. He wouldn't work on Sundays, " Nancy Langdale said, noting the gas station was a full-service station. "You always washed the windshield, filled up the oil, checked the water, checked the tires. He had six girls and a boy to help. He was the mechanic and we ran the gas pumps, and everybody had credit."
Mr. Langdale and his wife later opened Recie's Cafe in Wahneta, where they served Southern cooked meals for a few years. He also started the Fellowship Dining in Wahneta, and opened a restaurant in the Everglades.
He was a member of Wahneta Church of God.
In addition to his daughter, Nancy Langdale, Mr. Langdale is survived by his wife of 58 years, Willie Mae Langdale; daughters, Barbara Smith, Sondra Moore, Sarah Collins, all of Eagle Lake, Brenda Evans, Zolfo Springs; son, Robert Langdale, Moore Haven; brother, Billy Stephens, Tennessee; sisters, Ardella Paulk, Sumner, Ga., Ruth Causey, Georgia; 12 grandchildren; 18 great-grandchildren.
Visitation will be from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday at Wahneta Church of God. Services will be at 2 p.m. Monday at the church. Burial will be in Auburndale Memorial Park.
Steele's Family Funeral Services, Winter Haven.
Eddie Minnefield, 83, Citrus Foreman
HAINES CITY -- Baseball was a passion of Mr. Eddie "Mayfield" Minnefield's, who organized, managed and played for the Oakland Baseball League.
"A little before I met him, he formed his own basball team and we would go from town to town, " said his wife of 33 years, Johnnie Mae Minnefield.
The couple traveled in Florida and to Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina.
"Back then, people didn't have anywhere to go on the weekends and we always kept a team. We had fans that would follow us around. Sometimes my husband would hire people to take fans to the games."
Mr. Minnefield, a retired labor bus driver for Haines City Citrus Growers Association, died of heart disease Tuesday (April 5, 2005) at Haines City Health Care Center. He was 83.
Mr. Minnefield was born on Aug. 1, 1921, in Tallassee, Ala., where he first began playing baseball. He came to Haines City from there 53 years ago and continued playing the sport. He primarily played first base.
"There are a lot of young guys that he taught to play baseball from ages 5, 6 or 7 years old. My son was like 5 years old when he started teaching him, " Johnnie Mae Minnefield said. "He was in with the Lakeland Tigers because they supported our team a whole lot. I was just over there and they gave me a cap and a baseball to put in his casket."
Mr. Minnefield continued to be active with the sport until the last few years when he was no longer able to recruit enough players.
Mr. Minnefield worked at B.C. Cook and Sons and retired from Haines City Citrus Growers Association in the early 2000s when his health began to decline.
He was a member of the Crystal Lodge No. 414 in Haines City. He was a member of St. Mark AME Church.
In addition to his wife, Johnnie Mae Minnefield, Mr. Minnefield is survived by his sons, James Griffin, Atlanta, David Roney, Haines City, Dave Griffin, St. Petersburg, Billy Griffin, Arcadia, Tommy Williams, Tampa; daughters, Barbara Griffin, Winter Haven, Rhonda Russell and Pearl Corbit, both of Haines City, and Carolyn Jackson, Tampa; 18 grandchildren; and 16 great-grandchildren.
Visitation will be from 3 this afternoon to 8 this evening at Holmes Funeral Home, 601 Claude Holmes Sr. Ave., Haines City. Services will be at 1 p.m. Saturday at Greater St. Mark AME Church, 826 N. Eighth St., Haines City. Burial will be in Oakland Cemetery.
FRANCES McCULLEY, 78
Teacher
INDIAN LAKE ESTATES -- Mrs. Frances N. McCulley of Indian Lake Estates died of heart failure Thursday (March 3, 2005) at Winter Haven Hospital. She was 78.
Born July 2, 1926, in Bayshore, N.Y., she came to Indian Lake Estates from Acton, Mass., 18 years ago. She was a teacher for St. Elizabeth Church, Acton, for more than 20 years. She was a volunteer for Historic Bok Sanctuary, Lake Wales. She was a lector and member at the Catholic Church of the Holy Spirit, Lake Wales.
Mrs. McCulley was preceded in death by her first husband, Eugene Warner and second husband, Francis M. Lacey. She is survived by her husband, Karl McCulley; son, David Warner, Maynard, Mass.; daughter, Kathleen M. Hill, Frederick, Colo.; sister, Janet L. Baker, Lake Wales; four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
Services will be at 1 p.m. Wednesday at Catholic Church of the Holy Spirit.
Johnson Funeral Home, Lake Wales.
James Pratt, 80, Citrus
HAINES CITY -- Mr. James B. "Buster" Pratt of Haines City, who had an extensive career in the Florida citrus industry and was inducted into the Citrus Hall of Fame, died of congestive heart failure Saturday (April 2, 2005) at Florida Regional Medical Center. He was 80.
Mr. Pratt was born July 2, 1924, in Louisville, Ky. He attended The Citadel in Charleston, S.C., before joining the U.S. Marine Corps during World War II. After the war, he moved to Haines City in 1946 but later served with the Marine Corps during the Korean War.
He was 22 years old when he began working for the Citrus Experiment Station in Lake Alfred, where he began learning how to care for citrus crops, said his daughter, Elizabeth Gillette "Gill" Broadaway of Haines City.
Mr. Pratt went on to have a long and accomplished career in the citrus industry.
He retired from the Coca-Cola Food Division as assistant director of grove operations while also managing family citrus groves.
He was a past president of the Florida State Horticultural Society, the Florida Citrus Nursery Association, Polk County Farm Bureau and the University of Florida Fruit Crops Association.
He was a founding member, secretary and treasurer of the Citrus Research and Education Foundation. In 1993 he initiated the Deaprepes Task Force, concerned with protecting crops from exotic diseases and pests, and served as chairman until 2000.
He received an award of merit for distinguished service in agriculture from Gamma Sigma Delta, the honor society of agriculture, and received the Citrus Achievement Award in 2004.
Mr. Pratt was also a Haines City commissioner and was on the Haines City Chamber Education Task Force. He was named Haines City Pioneer of the Year in 2004.
When he was inducted in 2001 into the Citrus Hall of Fame, filled with degree-holding members, he was "very honored to be among people who had so much more formal education than he, " his daughter said.
"He learned from the ground floor up, instead of college class training, " she said.
Mr. Pratt is survived by his wife of 60 years, Jean P. Pratt; daughters, Elizabeth Gillette "Gill" Broadaway, Haines City, Mary Glen LaCharite, Amelia Island, and Lillian "Jamie" Simpson, Winter Haven; son, James B. "Gator" Pratt Jr., Haines City; sisters, Patty P. Conrad, Lynchburg, Va., and Jeanne P. Miller, Ross, Calif.; and 10 grandchildren.
Services will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday at First United Methodist Church in Haines City.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the First United Methodist Church, 21 S. Second St., Haines City, FL 33844, or the Citrus Research and Education.
Oak Ridge Funeral Care.
