What a great story! Sad too. Thanks for posting it, Woody. Oliver Barry, CRS, GRI Real Estate Broker Bob Parks, LLC 1517 Hunt Club Blvd Gallatin TN 37066 615-972-4239 615-826-4040 Sent from my iPhone
Begin forwarded message: > From: Woody Bass <[email protected]> > Date: November 14, 2012 8:20:49 PM CST > To: WXIA <[email protected]> > Subject: [gatornews] When UF Said 'Let There Be Lights' at Florida Field, > Poekel Devised Plan - GatorZone.com Mobile > Reply-To: [email protected] > > http://www.gatorzone.com/mobile/news/24314 > > When UF Said 'Let There Be Lights' at Florida Field, Poekel Devised Plan > > GAINESVILLE, Fla. – On Page 84 of his master's thesis is where one story > ended and another one began for Charles Axel Poekel. > > The page is dated Aug. 27, 1938. Poekel's thesis titled "Design of > Flood-Lighting for Football Stadia" was approved that day, signed off by four > members of UF's College of Engineering, including Dean Joseph Weil. > > Almost a year earlier in September 1937 Weil received a letter from Florida > assistant athletic director Percy Beard, who was exploring the possibility of > adding lights to Florida Field. The Florida football team needed a lighted > field to escape the heat and to be able to practice at night, and Beard asked > if Weil and his staff could "prepare an estimate of the cost of this > installation." > > Poekel, an electrical engineering graduate student at the time, had recently > completed his undergraduate degree at UF and was in search of his thesis > topic. > > A light went off. Poekel went to work. > > ***** > > Poekel's thesis ended up as the plan UF used to install the lights that first > lit up Florida Field, which was built in 1930 and expanded many times over > the years. The first night game came several years later in September 1950 > when the Gators hosted The Citadel. > > By that time Poekel was settled for more than a decade in New Jersey, where > for the next seven decades he would add numerous accomplishments to his > life's story. His contribution to UF's football history received recognition > in early 2010 when he returned to Gainesville for the first time in more than > 70 years to be honored as the UF College of Engineering's Alumnus of the Year. > > The reunion was special for those involved. When Cammy Abernathy, UF's > current dean of the College of Engineering, asked Poekel why it had been so > long since he had been back to UF, he responded, "I've been busy." > > Poekel was thrilled to be recognized by his alma mater and received a special > surprise when school officials took him to Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, took him > to the 50-yard line, and flipped on the lights in his honor. > > "I bet Thomas Edison wouldn't get this kind of treatment,'' Poekel told The > Florida Engineer. > > > > Photo: Poekel as a UF student in the 1930s and a diagram in his master's > thesis. > > Poekel was scheduled to return to campus earlier this month during the > weekend of the Florida-Missouri football game. The College of Engineering > planned to unveil a plaque at Ustler Hall – the building that used to be old > Florida Gym and where Poekel met Mary Alice Webster, his late wife of 63 > years – in Poekel's honor. > > He planned to attend the football game, meet the first two recipients of a > scholarship named in his honor, and celebrate his 97th birthday. > > "We were really looking forward to it,'' said Charles Poekel Jr., his son and > a New York City attorney. "One of the greatest things in his 90s was the > reconnection with Florida. That really inspired him." > > A few days prior to the trip, Poekel developed an infection that required a > hospital stay. Then Hurricane Sandy blew ashore and cut off power at his > Essex Fells, N.J., home for several days and canceled travel plans to > Florida. Instead of celebrating his birthday at The Swamp, Poekel was forced > to remain in the hospital, where he developed pneumonia. > > The family was able to take the Poekel home but on Nov. 7 he passed away at > 97, leaving behind a significant legacy besides his role in lighting Florida > Field. > > "I tell people he didn't live just 97 years, but 97 great years,'' Charles > Jr. said. "You can't ask for much more than that. He battled really > heroically. They gave him the strongest possible antibiotics and they weren't > enough." > > ***** > > Poekel was just getting started all those years ago at UF. > > While working at Curtiss-Wright Aeronautics five years after turning in his > master's thesis, Poekel invented an anti-icing method to prevent propeller > blades from icing on an airplane. He eventually earned a U.S. patent for his > work and the invention became the industry standard for de-icing airplane > propellers. > > Poekel's creative ways ran in the family. He moved to Florida to live with > his grandparents after his mom died when he was 11. His grandfather was > well-known Danish yacht and boat designer T.S. Poekel. > > Later in life Poekel designed equipment used in the development of the first > hydrogen bomb while at Gould and Eberhardt Engineering in Hoboken, N.J. He > married Mary Alice, a Florida State graduate, in 1941. > > He also created and owned C.A. Poekel & Company, a real estate brokerage > firm, Poekel Electric and Poekel Travel Bureau. > > A lifelong boxing fan, late in life Poekel developed into a huge fan of Manny > Pacquiao and continued to travel extensively well into his 90s. He loved to > swim and was active in masonry, a skill he acquired during his time in > Gainesville. > > It makes sense that his favorite singer was Bing Crosby, whose song "Young at > Heart" was a favorite of Poekel's. > > "That really sort of captures the way he was,'' Charles Jr. said. "That's why > it's tough on all of us. He didn't seem so old. He seemed so young at heart. > He was always someone who sort of looked ahead and never looked back." > > As Poekel rested in a New Jersey hospital on Nov. 2, a banner arrived from > UF's College of Engineering. > > "To our favorite Gator engineer,'' it read. > > "He really loved to see that,'' Charles Jr. said. "This would have been the > highlight of his life if he had made it down there for that Missouri game > weekend. We want to continue on with his legacy and come down there in future > years." > > Maybe they can come watch a Gators' night game. That seems about right. > > AT A GLANCE > > A memorial service for Poekel is scheduled for Nov. 24, the day of the > Florida-Florida State game. > > The family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the "UF > Foundation" to support the Charles A. Poekel Sr. Endowed Scholarship Fund, > c/o College of Engineering Development Office, P.O. Box 116575, Gainesville, > Fla. 32611. > > > > Woody (via iPhone) > -- > GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY! > 1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions > 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions > 2008 National Football Champions | > Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), > Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us -- GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY! 1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions 2008 National Football Champions | Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us
