Emily King was born in St. Louis, Missouri, the youngest of three siblings, in 1923.  When Emily was 4 years old, the family moved to Knoxville, Tennessee, and Emily always considered herself to be a child of Tennessee.  Her mother, in Emily’s words was a fine lady and a college graduate and was Emily’s best friend.  Her father was a successful business man who started a chain of furniture stores.  Unfortunately, her father got ill when Emily was in high school and after some months of ill health, the family fortunes began to decline and her dad had to declare bankruptcy.

Emily was always a unique personality and remained so until her death. When she graduated from high school she asked her parents for a cow as a gift and sold milk and butter from that cow which helped pay her tuition and books at the University of Tennessee after her dad’s reversal of financial fortunes, and she graduated with a degree in home economics.  Emily moved with some friends to Michigan and under the tutelage of some of the friends from Tennessee who were working as mechanical engineers doing industrial design of tools, dye and special machines and she went to work with them as the only woman in a work pool of one hundred and forty men.  This was the real beginning of Emily’s unusual life choices.

In 1946 Emily drove to Florida hoping to find a job as a Home Demonstration Agent but instead found work teaching home economics to migrant children in a “Strawberry School”.

 Emily obtained employment in Agriculture Education at the University of Florida which led to great opportunities for her.  She also obtained Ph.Ds (plural) in Education and Administration while working.  Emily took on the financial obligations to care for her grandfather and her mother who joined her living in Gainesville and they both lived with Emily until their deaths.

Emily was a giver and an accumulator.  She had homes in Gainesville, Tallahassee, a trailer in the country (and a large warehouse-type building full of stuff) outside of Alachua and who knows what else.  She owned what could only be described as a fleet of vehicles, dogs, horses, and so on and many, many friends.  She gave of herself to her multitude of friends and to the organization she belonged including Altrusa and Altrusa House.  She was a talented lady who did amazingly delicate work which belied the image she tried to project.   She served as a mentor to many and lived by the personal philosophy of “always eating dessert first”.   She, by example, inspired many of her friends to simply be better people.  Emily always dressed and acted like a slightly offbeat farmer which served to provide cover for her high intelligence and sensitivity of spirit.  It can be truthfully said that Emily King was one of a kind.

I am honoring the memory of my parents, who taught me by example, the value and importance of volunteerism. My dad was a volunteer fireman, a trustee of our church, and was always helping
people in our community. Both of my parents were involved in a foreign exchange program, which annually brought foreign students to our high school for the school year. It was a great program for smaller towns and rural schools, to give students a different view of the world.
My mother was a Literacy Volunteer, teaching reading to adults who were in our local jail. The joy that she felt from participating in this program was obvious and made a big impression on me.
I am pleased to finally carry on their legacy, trying to do my part as a member of the Altrusa International of Gainesville and the Altrusa House Board of Trustees.

Barbara J. (Stephens) Sperrazza, 64, of Gainesville, FL passed away peacefully on June 23, 2016 after a long illness known as Frontal Temporal Lobe Degeneration. She was surrounded by loving family. 

Barbara was born in New York City, she graduated from Lehman College, New York and received her M.S., R.D., L.D., and C.D.E. certification. She served as a Clinical Dietician in several New York hospitals. After moving to Pennsylvania, she worked at Pocono Medical Center and Mercy Hospital. Since 1995 until its closing, she worked as a Certified Diabetic Educator at Alachua General Hospital in Gainesville, FL. 

Barbara enjoyed traveling, photography and loved music and dancing. Her handicrafts were well known and appreciated by all. She embraced life to the fullest and truly loved people. Barbara’s favorite greeting was ‘I love you’. 

Barbara’s husband, Charles Sperrazza, served as Vice President of the Altrusa House Board of Trustees for many years. Charles also leads the FTD Support Group that meets once a month at Altrusa House to aid caregivers.

During 1991–92, Altrusa Club of Gainesville established a long term goal to open an adult day health care facility in our community. Over $60,000 was initially raised by the Club toward the goal to establish Altrusa House as a future adult day health care center. During 1994–95, an agreement was negotiated with the City of Gainesville to transfer the property at Greentree Park for the construction of Altrusa House. During 1995–96, a groundbreaking ceremony for Altrusa House was held on November 19, with construction scheduled to begin in 1997. An “Open House” was held during the construction phase where members signed building studs and placed a sealed time capsule that was opened 20 years later in October, 2018. Altrusa House opened its door to accept clients in October, 1998 and the dream was realized. 

We honor the Altrusa House Founding Board of Trustees for their vision, leadership, hard work and commitment to service for the benefit of our community and beyond.

Altrusa International of Gainesville, FL, Inc. (named Altrusa Club of Gainesville at that time) was organized and chartered on May 31, 1959, making it at this writing over 61 years old.  The first president was Grace Fordyce and there were some 20 charter members, the only one still with us being Ann Bromley, who served as Associate Dean of Student Services at Santa Fe Community College.  Among our members we can proudly count some who made local history:  Clara Gehan (serving as president of Altrusa Club in 1963-64) was in the first group of five women to attend and graduate from the College of Law at UF, long before UF became co-educational.  Charlotte Campbell was the first woman to be admitted and to graduate from the College of Pharmacy at UF.  Charlotte served as president of our Club in 1968-69, continued on as a very active Altrusan until the end of her life.   We proudly opened up our membership to men in 2001 and a few hardy souls have joined this group of dynamic women.

Our Club also proudly claims several members that became important to Altrusa International, both on the District and International level.  Freddie (formally known as Winifred) Dobson, local president in 1971-72, was elected as District Three Governor in 1985-87.  Donna Johnson, president in 1990-91, became Governor of District Three in 1999-2001 and then went on to serve as International President of Altrusa and added another term of service to Altrusa International by serving as Treasurer. In service to the growth of Altrusa in Florida, our Club organized and extended into Lake City and Starke, both of which became thriving Altrusa Clubs.  Not content to stay local in our State, we extended into Novorossiisk, Russia, establishing an Altrusa club which resulted in visits to and from Novorossiisk by some of our community leaders including some Altrusans and a number of citizens from Russia visited us in Gainesville.   The attendance of the Russian Altrusans to the International Conference held that year in Nashville, Tennessee was a highlight of that Conference.

The strength of the local Altrusa organization has always been its members.  Our members have included physicians, other health professionals, lawyers, accountants, professors, politicians, judges, teachers, administrators, bankers, business leaders, artists and even some who listed their occupation as “homemaker”.  Various members have assumed leadership roles in a myriad of other community groups, too many organizations to list here but it is safe to say that our community would be much poorer without the leadership of Altrusans.

 Altrusa Club promoted so many causes over the years, it would be impossible to name them all.  Our projects include education and services to promote the community welfare.  Some of the more notable were the efforts to support and save Camp Crystal.  Altrusan Esther Morgan (president in 1980-81) was the guiding light behind those efforts and was honored to have a cabin at Camp Crystal named for her.  The Sante Fe College Scholarships began in l976 when our club donated funds to Santa Fe Junior College to establish the first scholarship program for local women.  After extensive fundraising, five scholarships, named after special Altrusans, for women over 25 were endowed at Santa Fe College in 1996-97, ensuring their continued availability into the future for women from Alachua and Bradford Counties.  A unique project, extending over some years, was the Alachua County State Fair exhibit.  Altrusans (and Altrousers) designed and constructed our County’s exhibit  at the State Fair held in Tampa annually and was so successful, we were recognized as “winners” several times, this against exhibits from other counties, many of which were done by professional exhibitors.

Our support of education and literacy includes the community-wide read-ins in for early learners in elementary school that occurred for many years, the sponsorship, also for a number of years, of the GED (General Education Development) program on the local public service channel, the program which began in 2005 to provide assistance to homeless students, and the Stuff the Bus activities which provided educational materials to Alachua County Schools for their students.  We continue to provide annual scholarships for international students and have recently adopted Terwilliger Elementary School, deemed an underperforming school in danger of being closed, which has made substantial progress improving their state-issued grades.

Our premiere project was the establishment of Altrusa House, opening in 1998, an adult day health care  facility, which is an impressive building, built without a mortgage, located on the backside of Greentree Park off Northwest 39^th Avenue, on land donated by the City of Gainesville.  The funds for the construction of the building were mostly due to the efforts of the Altrusa Club and the Club continues to fundraise to provide scholarship money for clients and for the maintenance and improvement of Altrusa House.  The Board of Trustees for Altrusa House is and always has been composed of mostly Altrusans.  Indeed, the founding Board of Trustees numbered 25 of which 21 were active Altrusans (see the page entitled Honoring Altrusa House (AH) Founding Trustees).  The negotiations for the land, the designing of the building (Susan Davis-McCarter, Architect and Altrusan) the supervision of the construction and furnishing of the building have been, with very few exceptions, all the responsibility of Altrusans.  Easterseals Florida with a contract negotiated with the Board of Trustees has managed the facility for some 22 years since the opening of Altrusa House and has provided clients with quality care which has enabled them to remain at home with their families and avoid long term institutional care.  We are also proud that under a contract with the Veterans Administration we have been able to serve many elderly or disabled veterans.

Altrusa International of Gainesville, Inc. has been and continues to be recognized with many awards over the years both locally and from Altrusa International and District Three but more importantly, we have the satisfaction of knowing we have provided such important services to our community and its citizens.

Norma Hoffman is being honored for her service to Altrusa International, both on the local and District Three level and to Altrusa House.  Norma served as president of the local Altrusa Club at the time that the Club was searching for a project that would serve an unmet community need and also raise the profile of the organization.  The time and the woman, or maybe women, came together at the opportune time.  Norma enlisted Donna Sorenson to form a committee to select an appropriate project and from that selection and committee came the birth of Altrusa House. After the committee considered many opportunities, three possible projects were brought to the Club and from that list, an adult day health care facility was selected, albeit envisioned on a far less grand scale than it finally became.  Donna was then selected to serve as the president of the Steering Committee and through her organizational abilities and “unique” position with the University of Florida, work and fundraising was underway!  Norma was certainly the fairy godmother of Altrusa House.

Norma also served as Secretary to District Three during Freddie Dobson’s Governorship and as Freddie’s traveling companion and served on the Steering Committee and on the first Board of Trustees for Altrusa House.  She worked diligently behind the scenes to keep track of the donors to Altrusa House which are now memorialized on the tree sculpture  at Altrusa House and she continues to this day to be an Altrusan.

Professionally, Norma obtained a Master of Education degree at the University of Florida and her last position before retirement was teaching at Gainesville High School and serving as CBS Coordinator.  Personally, Norma is married to Altrouser Jerome Hoffman, devoted mother of two sons and one daughter, long-time Altrusan Linda Henderson, and she is an active grandmother to her grandchildren and great grandchildren.

Dick (Richard Allen) Phillips, husband of Altrusan Marilyn Mitchell, was born February 4^th, 1940 in San Fernando, CA.  He remained there until joining the Army.  Dick served as an MP for four years.  Upon leaving the army as a sergeant, he moved to Lompoc, CA where he was a city police officer.  Then, Dick moved to San Jose, CA and remained in law enforcement. 

Marilyn and Dick met in 1974 and married in 1979.  They continued living in San Jose until their retirement in 2004.  After much traveling and research, they chose Gainesville, FL as our retirement destination. Here they enjoyed traveling both nationally and internationally.  Dick particularly liked taking a relaxing cruise from time-to-time.  At home in Gainesville, Dick & Marilyn enjoyed fishing, golfing, gardening – all the normal retirement activities. But, they particularly enjoyed meeting wonderful people and making new friends.  Moving cross-country to a new community, without knowing a single-soul, was an adventure they enjoyed and are grateful to have had. Dick was a good, kind, and brave man. He will always be missed.

Marilyn joined Altrusa, when invited, in 2006.  Like all Altrusans, she contributes to all our activities benefiting our community and world.  She served as Chair of the International Relations Committee, as Altrusa Club Treasurer, and because of her family obligations of late is serving as Gainesville Altrusa Foundation Treasurer.

Trevor completed his Geomatics BS at the University of Florida.  He worked mainly with the design, installation, calibration, and support of high-accuracy guidance for marine construction applications.

In 2005, Trevor Yocum was awarded the rank of Eagle Scout. This marked four generations of Eagle Scouts for the Yocum family. His father earned the rank in 1972, grandfather in 1943, and great-grandfather in 1916. Only one other family has achieved this honor in the history of the Boy Scouts of America.

Trevor’s mother, Kimberly Browne, has served on the Altrusa House Board of Trustees as President, Treasurer, and Secretary.  Trevor was a beloved husband, father, son, uncle, nephew, cousin, and friend. Anyone who was lucky enough to meet and know Trevor can attest to his kindness, generosity, and love for his family and friends. His wife, Stephanie, and his son, Jackson, were the center of his world.

Esther Morgan was steeped in politics in a political family in North Carolina, but eschewed that lifestyle to come to Florida where she spent 52 years as a classroom teacher and education professor at the University of Florida.

Back in the 1950’s she founded the first class for handicapped children in Daytona Beach  which became a national model. She was a Charter Member of Delta Kappa Gamma Society International and was a recipient of the Gainesville Woman of Distinction Award. Esther was a much-loved and respected  professor in the College of Education and retired with Emeritus status.

Esther was President of the Woman’s Club of Gainesville and was President of the Gainesville Altrusa Club from 1980-1981, during which time our club received the Mamie L. Bass Award for the Camp Crystal project.

Esther is credited with ‘Saving Camp Crystal’, a facility owned by the Alachua County School Board dedicated to camping and outdoor activities, which was threatened with closure due to lack of funding.  She spearheaded a Coalition of Gainesville Citizens and our Altrusa Club to form a group called ‘Save Camp Crystal’.  Freddie Dobson says, ‘She personally attended other meetings of clubs, churches, schools, City and County meetings and urged them to join forces to prevent the sale of Camp Crystal. Hers was the voice that kept the public aware of the value of Camp Crystal as a natural resource’.  She frequently travelled with Freddie on Freddie’s official visits as Governor of District Three and loved to visit her family in North Carolina. And it was during this time that our  Altrusa Club started providing trunks with items needed for campers who were not able to provide them for themselves. A cabin in Camp Crystal was dedicated to her in 2003.

Esther Morgan contributed much to education in Florida, our local community and above all, our Altrusa Club.

John, Linda and their three sons, Jed, Doug and Stanley were a “package deal”.  If there was work to be done, whether it was the huge garage sales that provided most of the funding for Altrusa House or the State Fair Committees or so many other things over the years, they were always not only there but in the forefront.

John, a professional engineer, was a skilled and eager worker along with Linda and the boys for many, many years.  Stanley was inducted into the Henderson crew when he was merely a “babe in arms” and all the boys literally grew up in service to Altrusa and Altrusa House.  After Altrusa House was built, it is doubtful that any work party at Altrusa House occurred without the Henderson family’s participation in the early years.   To name only one, but certainly a fairly unusual activity, John, Linda and a large group of cyclists could regularly be seen roaring up to Altrusa House on their giant motorcycles, completing their fundraising drives to benefit the House.

John passed away only a short time after Linda’s untimely death and is remembered by their many friends with an engraved brick in the Garden of Memories, next to the well-deserved tributes to Linda in memory of her varied and many services to Altrusa and Altrusa House.

Fran brought her enthusiasm and organizational skills to Altrusa and then to Altrusa House in 2011, shortly after retirement from her last professional job, Director of P. K. Yonge Developmental Research School at the University of Florida.   While at PKY Fran also taught graduate courses in the College of Education at UF for 13 years.

 To reference Fran’s enthusiasm and organizational skills she used in her efforts for Altrusa and Altrusa House is putting it rather mildly.  Fran, in service to the Altrusa Club, as a member of the International Committee, co-chaired the International Dinners and served as coordinator for the ESOL partnership with Santa Fe College.  She also coordinated the reading program at Meadowbrook Elementary School and numerous other activities including running the annual Wreath Sale for Altrusa, the proceeds of which benefit Altrusa House.  About Altrusa, Fran states “After joining Altrusa I quickly learned that Altrusan are focused on what they can do in the community.  Working within the Altrusa committee framework makes participating fun and rewarding.”

 However, Fran’s primary service centered on Altrusa House.  To quote Fran, “The first time I visited Altrusa House, I was so impressed with the facility, the grounds, and professional care that was provided.  I knew right then that I wanted to support this important and vital service that the Altrusa Club of Gainesville created.”  Fran went on to serve three terms as Chair of the Altrusa House Board of Trustees.  Under her leadership, the 60/20 Celebration (60^thanniversary for Altrusa of Gainesville and 20^th anniversary of Altrusa House) was a resounding success, both in fundraising and raising awareness of Altrusa House in the community.  With the profits from that celebration, Fran supervised the enclosing of one of the screened porches at the House, a space that provides year-round comfort for the clients of Altrusa House.

Not content to rest on her past laurels, Fran took on the supervision of numerous projects concerning the maintenance of the property and continues to serve as official Liaison to Easter Seals, the long-time manager of the program at Altrusa House.

Fran is a product almost exclusively of the education system of the State of Florida, being a graduate of St. Petersburg High School and receiving all her college degrees from Florida institutions, including graduating cum laude from UF.  The only exception was her master’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, N.C.  Fran’s final degree was from the University of Miami, an EdD in Educational Leadership.

Professionally, Fran followed the same pattern, teaching or being principal of numerous educational facilities throughout the State.  The only exception to this was when she taught at Meredith College in Raleigh, N.C. while husband Vernon attended and received his Ph.D. at N.C. State.

Fran set an interesting example in her personal life; she has a twin sister and also is the grandmother to twin girls.  Married for 53 years before his recent death, she and Vernon had one son and three grandchildren, including the twins.  After meeting at UF, Fran and Vernon became avid Gator fans and they travelled to every SEC football stadium to see the Gators play and to visit the local communities (some more hospitable than others!).  Of course, Fran being Fran, she became involved with the Gator Town Gators and she served for over twenty years in many capacities, including club president.  Obviously, Fran brings her enthusiasm to everything that she touches.

Elaine Muther was a loyal friend to many, a hard-working Altrusan, and a devoted wife and mother.  She is remembered by an engraving in our Garden of Memories as “Best Mimi Ever” to her grandsons, Caleb and Connard.  She is also remembered by the dedication to her of the large room in the back of Altrusa House.  Husband Tom has a bench dedicated to him in the lovely gardens of Altrusa House, all of which speaks to her generosity to Altrusa House.

Elaine graduated from the College of Pharmacy at the University of Florida and her last employment before retirement was in the student infirmary at U.F.  After her graduation from UF and her return to South Florida, Dr. Tom, one of Elaine’s professors, went “a courting” Elaine; they married, raised their only son, Tom Jr., and lived a long and productive life in Gainesville before Tom’s passing and Elaine’s subsequent move to Colorado because of Elaine’s desire to live near her grandsons and because of her continuing and serious health issues.  Said ongoing health issues never slowed our Elaine down while living in Gainesville.

Elaine served with distinction as president of Altrusa International of Gainesville in 2001-02, an exceptionally busy year for the Club administratively and in their community work.  Never resting in her hard work and enthusiasm for Altrusa and Altrusa House, Elaine also served as president of Altrusa House.  When Husband Tom suffered serious health issues, Elaine never faltered in her untiring support of Altrusa House.  Instead, Elaine enrolled Tom as a client at Altrusa House which allowed her time to continue with her never ceasing work for Altrusa House. 

Elaine lives on as an example of the impact that just one person can make on the continuing mission of Altrusa House and on her Altrusan friends.

Louis Norman (Lou) Schilling was a retired architect and carpenter who loved designing buildings.  He began college at Iowa State University and, after relocating to Gainesville, he graduated with a BA in Architecture from the University of Florida in 1967.  His most recent project at UF was as Construction Specialist for the construction of the UF Chemistry building. He thoroughly enjoyed taking his friends on “tours” of that building while it was under construction.  He was also fondly referred to as “bat man”, as he designed the two Bat Barns on the University of Florida campus by Lake Alice. Lou was very proud of his work on the “Bat Barns” and enjoyed talking about this project.

Lou was the UF Project Manager when Fran Vandiver became the PK Yonge Director.  He was very helpful and knowledgeable of PKY’s campus and was Fran’s mentor as she learned about the campus facilities. Lou had a great sense of humor and that was helpful as they dealt with the Florida Department of Education on various projects. Lou knew how to listen and then how to transition from talk to action.

Lou was a member of the Retired Faculty group at UF and served on the Code Enforcement Board of Alachua County.  He was also a 3^rd degree Black Belt (Sandan) in Cuong Nhu Oriental Martial Arts, dedicated to teaching children’s classes and served as President of the National Association of Cuong Nhu for several years. His hobbies included construction of all kinds, including furniture building, home repair, and wood carving.  Being an avid reader, Lou was always sharing a good book with his friends.

Lou was a delightful person to work with and accepted our invitation to be on the Altrusa House Board with enthusiasm.  He immediately assessed the entire building and brought to the Board a detailed listing of facility needs and upgrades. Lou was always searching for ways to be helpful to others and brightened every board gathering with his wit, humor, smiling eyes, and contagious laugh. Lou is greatly missed.

Dr. Helen Mamarchev—distinguished educator, community volunteer, former Altrusan, and strong supporter of Altrusa House.  Helen served from the very beginning of the birth of Altrusa House, first on the Steering Committee and as a member of the first Board of Trustees.  Her expertise and plain common sense were most important in efforts to legally set up the various documents and other requirements to get Altrusa House up and running.  Her enthusiasm and hard work, to say nothing about her position as Associate Vice President of Student Affairs at the University of Florida which gave us entree to much of the support we got from the University in our early fundraising and community outreach, was instrumental in our successful building efforts.  Helen, although long gone from our community, has continued her support of Altrusa House.

Helen received her B.A. from Southern Methodist University, her M.S. Ed. from Indiana University, and her Ph.D. from University of Michigan.  Her first full-time job in her field was at the University of Kansas as an Assistant Dean of Women and after completing her doctorate at UM, she became the Associate Vice President for Student Affairs at UF for 17 years.  The call of the north enticed Helen to become Vice President for Student Affairs at both Illinois State University and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee before returning to the State of Florida to be the University Ombuds and Assistant to the President at Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers.  This completed a 45 year career in higher education administration and teaching and Helen remained in Ft. Myers for her retirement although rumor has it that her strong work ethic will not allow her to fully retire from the working world.

Helen has been the recipient of many honors and awards, including being the National President of the National Association for Women in Education (NAWE) as well as receiving the M Award for Outstanding Student Leader at SMU, the Elizabeth A. Greenleaf Award Distinguished Alumna Award from IU, the Hilda A, Davis Educational Leadership Award from NAWE, the UF Division of Student Affairs Award for Service and Leadership, and the Director’s Service Award from the Multicultural Center at Illinois State.

Additionally to all of the above listed awards, because of her extensive involvement with Panhellenic, the governing body of the sorority system, when she was at UF the Greek Woman of the Year annual award was named for her.  At Florida Gulf Coast University, the Dean of Students Office created the Dr. Helen Mamarchev Distinguished Advisor Award given annually to the outstanding faculty advisor on its campus.

Helen is most proud of the award from Santa Fe Community College’s, the Alachua-Bradford County Women of Distinction Award in 1997, reflecting her community service to the Girls Club (now Girls Place), Altrusa House, and the Community Transportation System Board in Gainesville.

Helen attributes her life-long work and achievements in the service to others to her mother and her role modeling of true servant leadership.  Helen states that her mother was always ready to help any person or organization that needed assistance, a volunteer at the ready no matter what.  Obviously, Helen learned that lesson well and then some.

Helen states that quotes from Mahatma Ghandi, “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others” and from Shirley Chisholm, “Service is the very purpose of life.  It is the rent we pay for living on the planet” have been her guiding philosophies.

Altrusa House has certainly benefited from Helen’s devotion to service and her many friends have benefited by the example that Helen has set.

Jean and Dennis were both born in Alberta, Canada.  They met at the University of Alberta and came to the States when Dennis attended Oregon State University where he received his doctorate.   

Jean was the ultimate woman for all seasons; when she came to Gainesville, she worked with the electron microscope at the VA Hospital.  She later opened the Wood Stove and Fireplace Center at a time when there was a national energy crisis. The fact that this store was started and owned by a woman invoked a lot of interest and questioning!  Jean loved the outdoors and she and Dennis were never happier than when camping in national parks or fishing at the family cabin in Cedar Key where they entertained friends and students.  One time Jean took a boatload of Russian ladies from Novorossiisk around the islands at Cedar Key.

Jean was active with the Sister City Program in Novorossiisk, Russia, and along with Altrusan friends, hosted Marine Cadets from that city. This was the beginning of a long friendship between ladies of Novorossiisk and Gainesville Altrusans.  In fact, it was the seed of the first Altrusa Club in Russia.

Dennis taught microbiology and microbial genetics at the University of Florida.  He was an early pioneer in gene mapping of E. coli. Dennis was a true ‘Altrouser’ and attended many Altrusa activities, enjoying joking and talking with Altrusan friends. He often borrowed the Wood Stove’s truck to help with the annual Altrusa Garage Sale and he was a hard worker at Altrusa’s exhibit at the annual State Fair.  Following his retirement, he enjoyed being a ‘tourist guide’ and showing his beloved Rockies to his Altrusan friends.

Jean was serious and practical, and Dennis was thoughtful and full of humor and fun – they were an ideal couple.

The official stationery of Altrusa International of Gainesville, FL proudly proclaims that we are the home club of Donna Johnson, Altrusa International President, 2007-2009—and proud we are!  This service crowned the volunteer career of Donna in Altrusa but certainly did not end it.  Donna’s long road in Altrusa began when she joined our local club in 1984, becoming Club President for 1990-91.  She advanced to District Three Governor in 1997-1999 and was installed as International President for 2007-2009.  This did not end our Donna’s Altrusa career as she served as International Treasurer in 2013-2015 and continues to this day to serve not only in leadership positions but in relatively mundane roles in our local organization.  We learned early that if something needs to be done, call Donna.

Donna began her leadership by chairing the rather unique project of our local club, the building of the Alachua County State Fair exhibit held each year in Tampa.  With this project she not only proved her organizational abilities, she exhibited her talents in design and that she could handle a hammer and saw with the best of them.  As Club President, she not only oversaw the redesign of our award-winning yearbook, she began her career as our club photographer which continues to this day.  Another big deal in her presidency was our club’s extension into Starke which resulted in another successful club, one of who’s achievements for Altrusa was the election of another Altrusa International President from our area.

 Donna’s efficient and graceful service as Governor of District Three paved the way for her rise to becoming Altrusa International President.  Notable in that journey, Donna chaired a committee to restructure the International Board and their study was presented at the International Convention in Dallas in 2001 and the transition to a smaller, more workable board was finally completed by the 2011 Convention and remains successfully in place.  Another feather in Donna’s cap was her service as Coordinator for the Altrusa Rebranding Project while she was President-elect which was introduced at the 2011 International Convention in Rapid City, South Dakota and has been fully integrated into the Altrusa organization.  It goes without saying that Donna traveled all over the four states that make up District Three during her term as Governor and all over the world as International President, representing her home club in ways that made all of us proud to be a member of such an outstanding organization.

On the professional level, Donna, the daughter of a school teacher, pursued that career at the University of Florida, receiving her degree in Secondary Education.  She found to her dismay that career was not for her so her first job was as clerk-typist in the office of the UF Registrar in the Data Processing Department.  This was the start of successive jobs in the Registrar’s office in the computer technology field.  Donna left the Registrar’s office to work in the College of Business Administration where she was responsible for implementing a new computer-based academic advising tool to track student progress toward graduation.  Donna grew with the College’s increased use of technology and ultimately became Director of Information Technology for the Warrington College of Business Administration for some 15 years.  Always the innovator, Donna was deeply involved with the College’s first educational program using online technology, “UF MBA Online”, which currently is ranked third among public institutions of higher learning.

Personally, Donna married her soul mate, Marty after meeting him at, where else, a local volunteer organization.  Their relationship continues as a long, enduring one which obviously required Marty to be most supportive of Donna’s almost total commitment to her volunteer work in the Altrusa organization.  Along the way, they built and lived in a unique round house in Gainesville, a geodesic dome, where they gave great holiday parties which many Altrusan friends and others enjoyed immensely.  After they tired of dome house living, they build another house on a Hawthorne area lake, again offering hospitality to many friends.  Currently, they have returned to town, living in Gainesville at Oak Hammock where they are learning to enjoy retirement when Donna very occasionally takes a break in all her Altrusa activities.

Indeed, Donna has more than earned the high regard to which she is held in “Altrusa World” and by Marty and her many friends.

Rev. Holston was a native of Americus, Georgia and grew up in several communities in the Southeast. He joined the Marine Corps after High School and saw combat in the Pacific during WWII, most notably on Iwo Jima and on occupation duty in Japan after the war. After returning home, he entered the University of Georgia where he studied Forestry and remained a die-hard Bulldogs fan his entire life.

Rev. Holston spent several years in the pulp and paper industry in Gainesville and Ocala, Florida. He took his retirement to pursue his dream of becoming a pastor in the United Methodist Church. He pursued his studies at the Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. He was ordained in 1987 and served as pastor of the Sparr United Methodist Church until his retirement.

Mr. George was a member of Altrusa House for many years. He enjoyed the Fellowship at Altrusa House. Mr. George made a huge impact in the staff lives and in the lives of his friends he made at Altrusa House. He shared the privilege of saying the prayer for lunch. The staff and volunteers were able to learn so much from Mr. George.  His presence and knowledge will be greatly missed at Altrusa House. ~ Altrusa House Staff