In Memorium




Bill Sapp

Bill M. Sapp passed away on October 12, 2007, at the age of 92.

   Born December 23, 1914 in Fort Myers, Florida to the late Ira Sapp and Eunice Sapp Raymond, he was a third generation Floridian.

   He met and married his beautiful wife Marguerite Collins of Sebring when, as a US Army reservist, he was stationed in Avon Park and she was working in the county tax collector's office. She predeceased him earlier this year.

  Sapp had a distinguished military career, joining the army at age 17 during the height of the Depression. He spent three years as a rodman on an Army mapmaking survey crew. During World War II, he participated in 18 beach assault landings in the Pacific Theater.

  He served two decades with the US Air Force and rose in rank from private to chief warrant officer. He ran ground survey crews around the world that helped the military map the uncharted wilderness. From the tropical jungles of Brazil to the frozen tundra of Greenland, throughout the South Pacific's tropical islands to the deserts of Ethiopia and Somalia, Sapp's crews often set up electronic ground stations-lugged by hand, boat, donkey or camel-on craggy mountain peaks. He was extremely modest about his military accomplishments and the dangers he encountered.

  Sapp was an avid horticulturist. He received his early vocational experience working for Thomas Alva Edison as a field hand on his estate. His love of plants was enhanced by his military travels where he saw indigenous vegetation. When he retired from the Air Force after 31 years, he obtained a horticulture degree from Pinellas Vocational Technical Institute and joined the Pinellas Park Department as the county's horticulturist. His legacy is the thousands of trees and plants in the county's parks and roadways. He was particularly committed to creating parks that visually impaired individuals could enjoy and emphasized the use of plants that could be distinguished by smell. He also believed in using native plants for landscaping.

  Sapp was an avid traveler. He and his wife worked for the major cruise lines; she as the social director and he as a casino blackjack dealer. They were bridge enthusiasts and he played daily achieving Life Master ranking. He was an expert poker player and even four months before his death, he was playing several times a week at St. Petersburg's Derby Lane.

  The southern gentleman was always elegantly attired. He enjoyed entertaining family and friends and being updated with loved ones' news and events.

  He is survived by his sister Mary Ann Solomon of Fort Myers; his nephews Larry Sapp of Blairsville, Georgia; Edward Sapp of Gainesville, Florida; Ronald E. Solomon of Fort Lauderdale; and his cousins Julia Pearl Keene, Arthur (Junior) Barron both of Ft Myers and Jewel Yeomans McDowell of Bradenton, Florida.

  A memorial service will be held on Sat, Oct. 20, 2007 at Moss-Feaster Funeral Homes 693 S. Belcher Road, Clearwater at 10:30 AM. Interment will be at Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2007 at 3:00 pm. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to The Air Force Aid Society (AFAS) 241 18th Street South, Ste. 202, Arlington, VA 22202 or the National Kidney Foundation, 1040 Woodcock Road, Ste. 119, Orlando, FL 32803.

Submitted By Gordy Barnes




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