Dr. Ernest George Schweibert
Dr. Ernest George Schweibert, an influential historian of the Reformation, died in Gainesville on Friday. He was 104.
Dr. Schweibert was a prolific scholar of Martin Luther. His whose last work -- a definitive analysis of the Reformation -- was published in 1996 when Schweibert was 100.
He was born near Deshler, Ohio and was a veteran of World War I, earning the Croix de Guerre for carrying a wounded comrade two miles. He returned to seminary school after the war and became an ordained Lutheran pastor, but decided to pursue graduate study at Ohio State University, the University of Chicago and Cornell.
During World War II, Dr. Schweibert taught German to U.S. military intelligence officers. He transferred to the U.S. Department of State as part of the administration that ran Germany after the war. While in Germany in 1950, Dr. Schweibert completed "Luther and His Times, " which he later described as greatest accomplishment.
Dr. Schweibert was a historian for the Air Research and Development Command, a secret Air Force division that included the Advanced Research Projects Agency -- the incubator of technology that led to the modern computer and the Internet.
He taught at the University of Florida during the mid-1960s but retired from teaching in 1965. He lived in Princeton, N.J., and Fort Myers before settling in Gainesville in 1979.
He is preceded in death by his first wife, Joye Gayle Tustin Schweibert.
Survivors include his second wife, Billie Dudley Lanier Schweibert of Gainesville; two sisters, Mary Smith and Lydia Burke of Ohio; a son, Dr. Ernest Schweibert, Jr. of Princeton, N.J.; one grandchild and one great-grandchild.
Wilson Hawkins
FT. WHITE -- Wilson Pierce Hawkins of Fort White died Saturday following a long illness at the Tri-County Nursing Home in Trenton. He was 80.
Mr. Hawkins lived in Fort White all of his life. He owned and operated his farm in the Fort White area for many years until his retirement in 1968. He was a Baptist.
Survivors include two daughters, Becky L. Hawkins and Julia H. Wood, both of Fort White; his son, Huey R. Hawkins of Fort White; two grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
James Martin Melton
MORRISTON -- James Martin Melton died Thursday at his residence in Morriston. He was 69.
Mr. Melton was born in Henderson, Ky., and moved to Morriston from Sour Lake, Texas, in 1991.
He was a lab technician and he served in the U.S. Army.
He was a Catholic.
Survivors include his wife, Iris Melton of Morriston; a daughter, Doris Ann Melton of Ridgecrest, Calif.; three sons, James Ray Melton of Deerpark, Texas, Richard Wayne Melton of Crestview, Texas, and Phillip Melton of Philadelphia; five sisters, Maretta Davis of Friendeswood, Texas, Jean Pafragan, Joann Wells and Janice Sutton, all of Henderson, Ky., and Juanita Kizer of Columbus, Miss.; two brothers, Jerry Melton of LaPorte, Texas, and Kenneth Melton of Henderson, Ky.; six grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
Paul Peters
Dr. Paul Peters, a dentist in Gainesville for nearly 20 years, died in Gainesville on Wednesday. He was 59.
Dr. Peters was born in Orlando but lived nearly all of his life in Gainesville. He graduated from Gainesville High School in 1958, and received a bachelor's in chemistry from the University of Florida in 1963. He graduated in 1967 from the Medical College of Virginia. He returned to Gainesville in 1970, practicing dentistry here until his retirement in 1988.
He was a Presbyterian.
He was preceded in death by a sister, Ann Mullen.
Survivors include his mother, Sara Peters of Gainesville; a daughter, Dahlton Stormes of Fort Lauderdale; a son, Trae Peters of Orlando; and three grandchildren.
Barbara Lee Speakes
TAMARAC -- Barbara Lee Speakes, a Gainesville resident for 30 years, died Friday at University Hospital, Tamarac. She was 65.
Mrs. Speakes was a homemaker who was born in Washington, D.C. She was a Catholic.
Survivors include her husband, Earl Speakes of Tamarac; two daughters, Pam Speakes of Coral Springs and Melissa Evans of Jacksonville; her mother, Beatrice Brothers of Tamarac; and three grandchildren.
Leonn P. Zickefoose
TRENTON -- Leonn P. Zickefoose of Chiefland died Friday at Tri-County Nursing Center. He was 64.
Mr. Zickefoose, a U.S. Navy veteran, was born in Bellview, Ohio. He was a Presbyterian. He moved to the Chiefland area six years ago and was a florist shop owner.
Survivors include his special friend, Wilbert Gamble of Chiefland; and a nephew, Brad Zickefoose of Bellview.
Sarah B. Nash
Sarah B. Nash of Gainesville died Tuesday at North Florida Regional Medical Center. She was 87.
Mrs. Nash was a retired administrative assistant for the Broward County School Board. She was also a former social worker.
She was born in Ithaca, N.Y., and moved from Fort Lauderdale to Gainesville three years ago.
Mrs. Nash received a bachelor's degree from Cornell University in Ithaca.
She was Jewish.
Mrs. Nash was preceded in death by her husband, Samuel K. Nash.
Survivors include three sisters, Florence Abrahams of New York City, Alice Horn of Gainesville and Rachel Stone of Fort Lauderdale; and two brothers, Morris Blostein of San Diego and Leon Blostein of Rochester, N.Y.
Expressions of sympathy may be made as donations to the Alzheimer's Association in Gainesville.
Bill C. Willis
STARKE -- Bill C. Willis of Starke died unexpectedly Thursday at North Florida Regional Medical Center in Gainesville. He was 54.
Mr. Willis was a steel worker in the construction industry.
He was born in Erbacon, W.Va., and moved from St. Albans, W.Va., to Starke 11 years ago.
Mr. Willis was a Baptist.
Survivors include five brothers, Harold Willis and Kenneth Willis, both of Starke, Charles Willis of St. Albans, Ronald Willis of Libby, Mont., and Donald Willis of Madison, Tenn.
Estella A. Blaine
STARKE -- Estella A. Blaine died Tuesday at her sister's residence in Starke following a brief illness. She was 88.
Mrs. Blaine was born in Starke and lived in Lakeland for seven years before returning to Starke 25 years ago.
She was a homemaker and a member of Mt. Pisgah A.M.E. Church.
Survivors include a daughter, Laretta Young of Hyattsville, Md.; two sons, Robert Blaine Jr. of Hyattsville, Md., and Lathell Blaine of Plainfield, N.J.; two sisters, Elnora A. Cannon and Marylee Shaw, both of Starke; seven grandchildren; and five great- grandchildren.
Christopher Charles Buncombe Sr.
HAWTHORNE -- Christopher Charles Buncombe Sr. of Hawthorne died Sunday at Shands at AGH following a brief illness. He was 75.
Mr. Buncombe was born in Blufton, S.C., and moved to Hawthorne 50 years ago.
He was a retired truck driver.
He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. He was a member of the American Legion Post No. 232 and the Galilee Missionary Baptist Church, where he served as a deacon, a choir member and a Sunday school teacher.
Survivors include his wife, Lillie M. Buncombe of Hawthorne; four daughters, Ida M. Buncombe of Savannah, Ga., Sandra Howard of Hawthorne, and June Hayes and Linda Latson, both of Gainesville; four sons, Willie Hutchinson and Kenneth Buncombe, both of Hawthorne, Gary Gordon of Gainesville and Christopher Charles Buncombe Jr. of Daytona Beach; a sister, Marie Fuller of Savannah, Ga.; 20 grandchildren; and 19 great- grandchildren.
Henry William Franklin
Henry William Franklin of Gainesville died Friday at the Hospice House of Gainesville following a brief illness. He was 81.
Mr. Franklin was born in Lake City and moved to Gainesville from New York City in 1997.
He was a school cafeteria manager with the New York City Board of Education.
He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II.
Mr. Franklin was a member of St. Patrick's Catholic Church, where he served as an usher.
He graduated from Lincoln High School in 1940.
Survivors include two sons, Alphonso R. Franklin of Bronx, N.Y., and Douglas L. Franklin of White Plains, N.Y.; two sisters, Minerva C. Franklin of Gainesville and Reberta L.F. Dowling of Bronx, N.Y.; and a grandchild.
