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John Wallick

Profile Updated: May 31, 2019
John Wallick
John Wallick

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John Wallick

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Residing In
The Villages, FL USA
Occupation
retired
Children
none
Military Service
Army  
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After one year at St. Pete JC, I enlisted in the Army and became an Air Traffic Controller. I was stationed one year in Korea and one year in Savannah, GA. After I was discharged I was hired by the FAA as a Controller. I first worked from 1974-1977 at St. Pete-Clearwater Airport Control Tower. Then transferred in 1977 to Pensacola Approach Control. In 1981 I was one of the 12,000 striking controllers fired by Ronald Reagan. I moved back to Savannah, Georgia and decided I rather be self-employed so I opened a record store near the army base Ft. Stewart, GA. After several successful years the Desert Storm conflict caused most of our customer base to be deployed for over a year and at a time when technology made it necessary for us to expand into CD's. In addition our shopping center was anchored by a K-Mart, and a Walmart opened a block away, so with all these factors in mind, we did not renew our lease in 1989. I moved to Spring Hill, Florida and tried my hand at selling real estate for a few months. Later that year I visited my relatives in Baltimore, MD and decided to stay in Maryland in 1989. I got married and worked first as a dispatcher for a messenger company. In 1992 I started importing CD's from Japan and Europe and created a mail order music business using collector magazines to sell our product. Later I went online and sold through our own website. Everything went great for about a dozen years until after 9/11. Retail business in general took a downturn and within a couple of years because of downloading and competition online music sales dropped off. In 2005 we decided to retire and in 2011 I moved back to Florida to the retirement community "The Villages" about two hours north of St. Pete off I-75.
School Story

My parents moved from Baltimore to St. Petersburg in 1959. I grew up on the southside near Bartlett Park and I first attended Roser Park Elementary in the 4th grade, it was right next to Mound Park Hospital. It has since been torn down. No air conditoning and we know what that is like, and wood floors and a asphalt playground. In 7th grade I went to Southside Jr. High School just off 9th Street South. High school I missed going to Gibbs by two blocks and SPHS was it. From Bartlett Park to Central Ave there was only about 10 of us going to SPHS and we all knew each other from riding the bus and about 5 of us became friends and would ride our bikes all over downtown St. Pete. We would go to Al Lang Field during spring training and get autographs, Webb City, Maas Bros, the Pier, Sone's Magic Shop was a favorite stop. We once made a soap box cart and raced it down Roser Park Hill, there was some advantages to living near downtown. At the end of 10th grade my parents moved near Crossroads Shopping Center and I was told to go to Dixie Hollins, or I could stay at SPHS if I had my own transportation. My parents bought me an old Chevy and I stayed at SPHS. I had a double life, driving to SPHS for school and hanging out with Dixie Hollins kids on nights and weekends.

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John Wallick
John Wallick has left an In Memory comment for David Millard.
Sep 11, 2018 at 12:33 PM

from Legacy.com: additional information

David Robert Millard of Davenport, Florida died of a heart attack Thursday (Aug. 26, 2004) at Good Shepherd Hospice at Grace Health Care in Lakeland. He was 54. Born in Vallejo, Calif., on Nov. 16, 1949, he came to Davenport from Altamonte Springs in 2003. He was a Web designer for Integrated Supply Network in Lakeland.

Mr. Millard is survived by his wife, Linda Millard; son, Michael Millard, St. Petersburg; daughter, Lisa Shelton, New Port Richey; mother, Bernice Millard, St. Petersburg; sisters, Alice Marcott, Clearwater, Irene Frazier, St. Petersburg.Visitation will be from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday at Grove Park Christian Church in Lakeland. Services will follow at 4 p.m. at the church.In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Good Shepherd Hospice, or the American Heart Association. David Russell Funeral Home, Lakeland.

John Wallick
John Wallick added a photo to his profile gallery.
Aug 19, 2018 at 6:12 PM
My 2017 50th Anniversary Camaro. My dream car was always a Camaro, so I had to have the special edition, one of only 5700 made in 2017. It had a unique interior, wheels and markings. Unfortunately with our small garage we traded it in 2018 for a more practical car since we want to do more traveling.
John Wallick
John Wallick added a photo to his profile gallery.
Aug 19, 2018 at 6:12 PM
Our villa in The Villages, Florida. The community is the largest 55+ community in America. 35 sq miles and about 120,000 residents. Ours is a courtyard villa because we have a privacy fence. The majority of the 60,000 homes have no fences, they're not allowed or sheds or buildings. It's a very clean neat place, immaculate you might say. The developer is still building 2,000 new homes a year. If you want to learn more, go to youtube and search hundreds of videos or the developer's website at www.thevillages.com. The Villages is about a 90 minute drive north of Tampa off I-75 at the Wildwood exit.
Mary Shofi Volpe
Mary Shofi Volpe posted a message on John Wallick's Profile.
Aug 19, 2018 at 4:21 PM

John...sounds like yu have had a very colorful life. I am glad that you and your wife are back in fl. It is interesting to read that your family moved herein 1959 from up north. Our family came to st. Pete from new York NY in 1957. Wow, how st. Pete has changed!!! Thanks for your contributions to this website.

John Wallick
John Wallick has a birthday today.
Jul 10, 2018 at 4:33 AM
John Wallick
John Wallick has left an In Memory comment for Donald Young.
Jun 10, 2018 at 8:33 PM

Donald "Don" Wayne Young - age 50, born in St. Petersburg in 1949, he passed away at Tampa General November 21, 1998. Don moved to the Tampa area soon after graduation and was employed in accounting for a shipping company. He was a member of Open Bible Tabernacle, he was survived by his mother Myrtle, brothers John, William and David and sister Karen.

John Wallick
John Wallick has left an In Memory comment for Norman Moyse, Jr.
Jun 10, 2018 at 8:33 PM

Norman Edward Moyse, Jr. - Age 45, born in Riverton, Wyoming on May 9, 1950. Was an Army Chief Warrant Officer and a helicopter pilot and Vietnam veteran. He died near Ft. Rucker, Alabama on August 4, 1995.

 

John Wallick
John Wallick has left an In Memory comment for Jeffrey Wright.
Jun 10, 2018 at 4:33 PM

Jeffrey Dale Wright - Age 19, born Hickory, NC May 24, 1949 and died December 18, 1968. Survived by his parents Wiliam Wright (deceased 1989) and mother Mary Johnson Wright (deceased 2001) and brothers Bill and Bobby and sister Brenda. He was laid to rest at Royal Palm South Cemetary at 55th St. and 1st Ave. South, St. Petersburg.

 

John Wallick
John Wallick has left an In Memory comment for Danny Bradley.
Jun 10, 2018 at 4:33 PM

John Wallick
John Wallick has left an In Memory comment for Deborah Denike Miller.
Feb 07, 2018 at 4:33 PM

Deborah DeNike (Miller) Born Oct 10, 1950. Her family moved from Norwalk, CT to St. Petersburg in 1952. She passed away at home May 11, 2002 at age 51. She had worked as a secretary for Webb City. She is survived by a son Dorian Miller and a daughter Jennifer Miller both of North Carolina, two brothers Gerald DeNike and Bobby DeNike both of St. Petersburg and two grandchildren.

John Wallick
John Wallick has left an In Memory comment for Brian Shirley.
Oct 15, 2017 at 12:33 PM

Brian Shirely lived in Pinellas Park, born september 29, 1950 and died April 15, 2004 at age 53.

John Wallick
John Wallick has left an In Memory comment for Michael DiGiovanni.
Oct 14, 2017 at 8:33 PM

Michael L. DiGiovanni Born 1949 and died on or about January 25, 1977. He is buried at Calvary Catholic Cemetery at 11801 US Hwy 19 North, Clearwater, Florida.

Three sailors dead, but their story lives... in court from St. Pete Times February 1977

On January 25, 1977 two trawlers on their way to honduras disappeared from the surface of the Gulf of Mexico 35 miles SW of Boca Grande (near Punta Gorda) and the next day the bodies of three young men, the crew, were found amid a scattering of diesel fuel, oil drums and wreckage. Two were Michael and Phillip DiGiovanni of St. Pete and their friend Johnnie Stone. The deaths left the DiGiovanni family feeling more sense of robbery than loss. They feel that the vessels were not seaworthy and that promised help was not at hand. The US Coast Guard and the courts may settle the question of responsibility, but some lessons here should be obvious. Those three did not need to die.
 
In mid-afternoon on Tuesday January 25, 1977 within a 15 minute period the Coast Guard Air Station in St. Petersburg got two distress calls about boats taking on water. Both came over citizens band radio. Through experience, the Coast Guard has come to view emergency calls on CB network with a degree of suspicion: Those who broadcast and relay Maydays on CB channels tend to be unprofessional and undisciplined. They call in emergencies where none exist. Worse still, some are pranksters and that Tuesday afternoon, those things combined to help drown the DiGiovanni brothers and Johnnie Stone. The first Mayday was relayed from Coast Guard station Fort Myers Beach, which had taken telephone calls from people who saidy they had intercepted a CB channel 11 transmission from a vessel. Chatherine H. was taking on water 35 miles southwest of Boca Grande in the Gulf of Mexico. A second call came in that the pleasure boat Salty II was taking on water near the Courtney Campbell Causeway in Tampa Bay. The Gulf of Mexico is broad and deeply fickle, and the elements of chance conspire to place lives in danger often and without warning. The air station in St. Petersburg has lost it's own men in search of others. 
 
A Coast Guard hearing was called. Two trawlers, the Catherine H. and the Ullysses were owned by a man named Red Hamilton, though he didn't seem to know much about them. Michael DiGiovanni had begun talking with him back in November about delivering the two boats to Belize. The FBI investigated but as in most maritime cases, they use the three-mile limit. Red Hamilton said he had talked with the brothers five or six times in the ten or so days he knew them. Peggy DiGiovanni who drove her husband Phillip and brother Michael back and forth to Punta Gorda where the Catherine H. and Ullysses were docked, said they worked on the trawlers there for 2 or 3 weeks to prepare them for the trip and they stayed in contact with Red Hamitlon by phone. Red Hamilton seemed not to know very much about the boats or their condition, or what equipment was on board. A CB radio, I imagine, or a VHF, he said, when asked what radio was on board. You don't know what kind of radio? said Earl Moffit, the DiGiovannis lawyer. No, said Hamilton. I gave them whatever they wanted, I gave them a CB radio, Hamilton said. It was their responsibility to make sure that the boats were seaworthy, not his. He brought a copy of a contract with him to the hearing. The contract called for the delivery of the Catherine H. and the Ullysses to Placencia Cove, Belize in return for $500 and return plane tickets home. It sets down two conditions: That we (the DiGiovannis and Stone have also made repairs to both vessels as to make them seaworthy.
 
The St. Petersburg air station scrambled a helicopter crew to hunt for the Catherine H the second the call came in said the Coast Guard spokeman. One decision was to send up a single helicopter. Lt. Stephen Helvig who was on station desk that afternoon said, we didn't really search on this like we knew there were really people out there, we made kind of a brief search. We would have made a bigger search if we had known for sure. The second decision was to route the helicopter by way of the Salty II's location in Tampa Bay. The Salty II call was apparently a hoax since no boat was found. However the search for the Salty II took 15 to 20 minutes of time. The helicopter continued south into the Gulf to search for Catherine H, but they were not found that afternoon. Had they had a VHF Radio and the Coast Guard could of talked directly to them, they would of had better information and could of 'home in' on their radio signal. The ship's wreckage was not found until the following day search.
 
One other important document was brought to the hearing by Red Hamilton. The DiGiovannis said they would leave on the morning of the 25th because the freighter "Raymar" would meet them six miles off shore at 5am and shepherd them to Honduras. Captain Rudolph Crimin of the Raymar said he made radio contact with Catherine H. at 4:45am and visual contact at 6am six miles off Boca Grande sea buoy. Crimin said he then went to sleep, when he woke just before noon the two trawlers were about six to eight miles ahead of him. After awhile one of the trawlers fell back along side the Raymar and a man named Phil was wearing a life vest. Phillip said they were having engine trouble and Crimin offered to tow them back. They said they thought they could make it back and wanted to know about how far, and I told them about 45 miles. We watched the boat fade into the distance about 2pm said Crimin. An hour later the distress call came in that the Catherine H. was 35 miles offshore and was taking on water fast. The DiGiovanni family says a marine band radio was one of the things the brothers asked the owner for. But the brothers are dead now. That is hearsay. And a lot of "if s" combined to kill them. And an enduring mystery that may never clear. One of the few undisputed facts in this case is that it was E. Red Hamilton Jr. who hired the DiGiovanni brothers and their friend Johnnie Stone to take the Catherine H. and the trawler Ullysses to Honduras for him.

John Wallick
John Wallick has left an In Memory comment for Michael Bryant.
Oct 13, 2017 at 8:33 PM

Michael Bryant Born May 23, 1950 and passed away January 11, 1984. Michael is buried at Memorial Park Cemetery at 49th St and 54th Avenue North in St. Pete.

John Wallick
John Wallick has left an In Memory comment for Arlene Panepinto Mitchell.
Oct 12, 2017 at 8:33 PM

Arlene Panepinto (Mitchell) Died 2015.

John Wallick
John Wallick has left an In Memory comment for Dwight Jones.
Oct 12, 2017 at 8:33 PM

Dwight Jones On Sept. 28, 1971, Jones died in a Viet Cong attack on his tank. He was 20.

At St. Petersburg High School, Jones ran track and organized the St. Petersburg High Black Culture Organization. His focus, however, was the Black Brothers and Sisters of the Northside Organization, which he founded with Goliah Davis and his brother, Reginald L. Jones.

Jones tutored neighborhood children. He instilled pride within his peers by organizing black culture groups that showcased African-Americans' accomplishments.

"There was blatant hostility and racism then," said one of Jones' five siblings, Yvonne Jones-Brown. "You can either go nuts or do something about it. Dwight did something about it." Jones butted heads with city officials over their neglect of Methodist Town, a black neighborhood now known as Jamestown that is bounded by First Avenue S and Fifth Avenue N, Ninth to 16th streets. Housing was squalid. Many streets were unpaved and absent of streetlights.

Dwight was shot at when he tried to move in as a freshman at the University of West Florida, so Jones returned home. Six months later, he was drafted into the Army. He was killed in Vietnam. When his body was returned here, a local cemetery refused his family's request for burial.

"Jones' death was one horrendous thing after another," said Jones-Brown, an Environmental Protection Agency employee in Washington, D.C. "First, the military was unsure where the body was. Later, we had to change the burial site and the funeral program."

Today, the neighborhood's hub bears his name - the Dwight H. Jones Community Center. "We had to institutionalize his memory," said his old friend, Goliath Davis, now a deputy mayor. "His legacy had to live on." Dwight Jones Park pictured below.

On Dec. 29, 1950, Jones was born in Methodist Town. "We weren't rolling in the dough," said Jones-Brown, 54. "After good morning, education was the watchword."

Jones tutored children there, planned field trips and scheduled neighborhood cleanups. At St. Petersburg Junior College (class of 1970), he re-established the Harambi Swahili Organization, another black culture group.

Dwight and Reginald Jones and Goliath Davis repeatedly battled the City Council over Methodist Town improvements. The city, they were told, "was not in the housing business."

Through the Black Brothers and Sisters, Jones initiated a movement for a city-sponsored center. Officials paid little attention.

In 1970, Jones found housing in a trailer at the University of West Florida in Pensacola, but bullets flew overhead as he unloaded his car. Jones returned home.

In March 1971, the Army drafted Jones. "My brother did not want to go," said his sister, Yvonne. "He had a great concern about killing someone."

Said Davis: "We had a long discussion the night before he had to report about whether he should serve or go to Canada. He decided to serve."

"Very numbing, but not a surprise," Reginald L. Jones said. "They were rushing men over there. He knew he was going to the front line."

Upon return of Jones' body in October, Susie Walker, Jones' mother, requested burial at Royal Palm Cemetery.

"Deed restrictions in the chain of title restrict the cemetery to Caucasians or whites," William S. Belcher, Royal Palm's attorney, said at the time. "Many lots have sold subject to these restrictions."

"I faced (the rebuff) with quiet resignation," Reginald said. "I'm a realist. Our father encountered the same situation."

"Jim Crow was still surviving," said Davis, 52. "(Dwight) gave his life for democratic principles, but he was denied the chance to partake of its opportunities."

The military ultimately arranged for Jones' burial at Chapel Hill Memorial Cemetery in Largo. The Veterans Liaison Council and a Fort Stewart, Ga., detachment furnished military honors.

On March 12, 1972, Jones was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart, the Good Conduct Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal and the Vietnam Campaign Medal.

Methodist Town was renamed Jamestown (to honor civic leader Chester Lucius James Sr.) in 1974, and in 1977 a Housing and Urban Development grant of almost $4-million went toward housing and a $500,000 community building. That October, about 200 people attended the dedication of the gold-colored Dwight H. Jones Neighborhood Center.

The Boys & Girls Clubs of the Suncoast Inc. meet at the center, 1035 Burlington Ave. N. Occasional rentals reap funds, and the Pinellas Opportunity Council distributes financial aid there to needy residents.

And Jones' legacy lives on. Jo-Anne Lewis, administrative assistant at Jamestown Townhouses and Apartments, said: "When the children see his picture, they ask about Mr. Jones."

"A Promising Life Cut Short" by SCOTT TAYLOR HARTZELL Published St. Pete Times 2004.

John Wallick
John Wallick has left an In Memory comment for Clark Henderson.
Oct 09, 2017 at 8:33 PM

Clark Henderson Born June 14, 1950 and died in Seminole, Florida February 25, 2012. 

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Posted: Aug 21, 2018 at 6:03 PM
Our villa in The Villages, Florida. The community is the largest 55+ community in America. 35 sq miles and about 120,000 residents. Ours is a courtyard villa because we have a privacy fence. The majority of the 60,000 homes have no fences, they're not allowed or sheds or buildings. It's a very clean neat place, immaculate you might say. The developer is still building 2,000 new homes a year. If you want to learn more, go to youtube and search hundreds of videos or the developer's website at www.thevillages.com. The Villages is about a 90 minute drive north of Tampa off I-75 at the Wildwood exit.
Posted: Aug 19, 2018 at 6:26 PM
My 2017 50th Anniversary Camaro. My dream car was always a Camaro, so I had to have the special edition, one of only 5700 made in 2017. It had a unique interior, wheels and markings. Unfortunately with our small garage we traded it in 2018 for a more practical car since we want to do more traveling.