Obituary for my stepfather, Edmund B. Everette
Due to an epic failure between the funeral home and local newspaper, my stepfather's obituary will not run this weekend as promised to us. I am loading it here in the hopes that I can spread the word at least a bit this way.
Edmund B. Everette passed away on December 28, 2014. He is survived by his loving wife Maureen and children, Edmund Jr, Donna, Patrick and Colleen and grandchildren Hannah, Ben, Pierce and Emma.
Ed was born on a farm near Lake City, Florida. He attended the University of Florida with plans to teach and farm but the Korean War changed that. He enrolled in AFROTC and upon graduation was commissioned as a lieutenant in the USAF. He completed flight training and served in the US and Japan before being stationed with the Tactical Air Command and later attended Command and Staff College. He was assigned to the Fourth ATAF in Germany and was then sent to Vietnam where he was a squadron operations officer and commander with Forward Air Control. He flew more than 600 hours of combat time and was awarded numerous air medals and the Distinguished Flying Cross. He then was assigned to the Joint Chiefs of Staff in operations and was briefer to the Chairman. His last assignment was Chief of Operations Air Base Group at Patrick AFB.
Ed then obtained his FAA flight instructor ratings and was employed by Florida Institute of Technology as a flight instructor and professor. He earned an MBA there and held various positions until appointment as Dean of the School of Aeronautics and President of FIT Aviation. During his tenure, the School of Aeronautics grew to over 850 students and averaged 50,000 flight hours a year.
After Ed obtained an FAA grant, a new building, now called the College of Aeronautics, was constructed on campus. After leaving FIT he was named Professor Emeritus and became the Florida representative for the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association.
During the course of his career, Ed logged over 10,000 hours of flight time and was recognized by the FAA with the Wright Brothers Master Pilots Award for more than 50 years of accident-free flight.
A celebration of Ed Everette's life will be held at Eastminster Presbyterian Church in Indialantic on January 7 at 1:30 PM with reception following. In lieu of flowers the family asks donations be made to the Wounded Warriors Project.
