Linda Nevins

My father was a fine man. He was born William Samuel Drew Jr. But my grandfather , whom I never knew, died in 1924, when Sam was a very young boy. My grandmother remarried in 1936 to a Fred HC Becker. Just before joining the WWII he changed his name , adopting his Step father’s last name Becker. He was always resourceful. He worked on my grandmother’s farm raising pigs, until the War. He was injured by mortar fire which left him with A limp the rest of his life. He was extremely strong -willed and authority was not his favorite to succumb too. Not sure exactly of what happened , he was demoted from Sgt back to Private. He met my mother Lurine Castleberry Becker and married her at the courthouse since they had no money to speak of . He built their house alone, across from his sister’s house in Macon Ga. Her name was Virginia Drew Duckworth. He always wanted to move to Fl so he took his money from selling his gas station and bought a house in Panama City Fl. 1968. He built a few small boats with wood and milk cartons . It was amazing they were so heavy yet they floated in the ocean. As today marks the 50 anniversary of the Florida Teachers Walk out, it reminded me of him as one of the volunteers to teach. During the walkout so students could continue their education. It was funny, as most students could not understand the calculus he taught. He was a strong willed man as stated previously,he was strict with us 3 girls. My sister was in college, and my other sister sister and I enjoyed the living on the beach. Sam smoked from approx. 15 years old up into his 70’s or so, he died from emphysema in 1991.