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Jenkins, William (1910-1996)

Founder of Crealde School of Art

William Sterling Jenkins was born in Preston, Georgia in 1910. He waited on table and sold magazines to pay for his tuition at the University of Florida. ^[1] Jenkins graduated with a Bachelor in Fine Arts in 1934. He traveled to Italy where he studied and graduated from the Royal Academy of Art in Florence in 1937. Afterwards, he traveled throughout Europe and Mexico painting the different people and places he visited. ^[2] He founded his own art school in Columbus, Georgia in 1938. His work was featured in a one-man exhibit in New York City in 1941.

Jenkins married Alice Moberg in 1942. Jenkins served in the U.S. Army during World War II from 1942 through 1944. After serving in the war, William and his wife moved to Winter Park, Florida where they established the Jenkins Construction Company. They dedicated themselves to building affordable homes in Central Florida. Jenkins became a successful businessman and was involved in the community. Jenkins served one year as Winter Park commissioner in 1953 , co-founded the Orange County Council on Aging in 1966, served as president of the Sons of the American Legion Post 112 and was President of the Home Builders Association. Jenkins also set up an endowment at the University of Central Florida. His contributions allow UCF students to present visual art in community centers and schools. His endowment also helped establish a Chair in Community Arts. He received an Honorary Doctorate in Humanities from the University of Central Florida.

Jenkins created the Crealde School of Art in Winter Park in 1975 and donated the school to the community in 1980, the same year he retired from his home building business. Jenkins stated that Crealde stands for “Center for Creative Living.” ^[3] Today, the center is a non-for-profit community arts center that presents the public with free exhibits and lectures from noted artists from across the U.S. ^[4] The center also offers affordable art lessons in photography, sculpture, painting, ceramics, and drawing. The center features a professional dark room, ceramics studio, foundry, a sculpture garden and two galleries. ^[5]

Jenkins’ wife died in 1988. William died on March 30, 1996. He is survived by daughter Ann Jenkins Clement and his son William Griffith.

– Kerem K. Rivera

Johnson, Thomas Phillips (1914-2000)

Distinguished Alumnus and Generous

Thomas Phillips Johnson was born on June 8, 1914 in New Castle, Pennsylvania. He attended New Castle public schools before attending Rollins College and graduating in 1934. While at Rollins he had a major impact on student life. He participated in a multitude of activities including playing baseball and football. He served as the sophomore class president in 1931 and later served as student body president. He then attended Harvard Law School, spent two years as the editor of the Harvard Law Review and graduated from Harvard magna cum laude in 1937.

Johnson began practicing law in Pittsburgh that very same year. He also served in the Navy during World War II as an assistant to the Secretary of the Navy, and achieved the rank of Lieutenant Commander before being discharged in 1946. He returned to practicing law in Pittsburgh as part of the Kirkpatrick, Pomeroy, Lockhart and Johnson law firm. In his long career, Thomas P. Johnson served as on officer or director of well over fifty companies. These included Cyclops Corporation, Rockwell International, and First Seneca Bank and Trust Company, which later merged with Pennsylvania Bank Corporation. ^[6]

In 1939, Thomas P. Johnson began serving on the Rollins College Board of Trustees. His time on the board spanned the tenure of five different presidents. Johnson also headed the alumni association at the same time. He served as a trustee for other institutions as well, including Bethany College, Culver-Stockton College, and Philips University named after Johnson’s own grandfather Thomas W. Phillips. He believed strongly in the impact and value of a liberal arts education, and received the Rollins College Decoration of Honor in 1959. Johnson loved college sports and contributed money to build the Alfond Baseball Stadium. ^[7]

In 1982 Rollins College President Thaddeus Seymour presented Johnson with an honorary degree of Doctor of Laws. Johnson contributed one million dollars in 1994 to create the Thomas P. Johnson Distinguished Visiting Scholars Program which invites speakers from across the world to share their knowledge with Rollins College. In 1995 Johnson donated two million dollars to establish the Thomas P. Johnson Student Resource Center, which offers tutoring and academic assistance to Rollins College students. ^[8] In 1999 he was honored with a stone on the Rollins Walk of Fame by another Rollins President, Dr. Rita Bornstein, who presented Johnson with his second honorary degree, a Doctor of Humane Letters. ^[9] Thomas P. Johnson died on May 23, 2000 and was buried in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

– David Irvin

Justice, Joseph (1916-2005)

Alumnus, Dean of Men, Renowned Coach

Joseph Justice received his preparatory education from public schools in his hometown of Asheville, North Carolina. He demonstrated significant athletic ability as a youth. During high school, Justice held the position of senior class president, captained the football and basketball teams, participated in All-State football, and received an award in citizenship. Justice then traveled to Winter Park, Florida for college. From 1936 until 1940, Justice attended Rollins College, where he excelled in a variety of sports. While at the College, Justice received memberships to national honor society Omicron Delta Kappa (which honored him with a trophy in 1940), the College’s Omnipotent Order of Osceola, played All-State football and baseball, received honorable mention from Little All-American Football, and represented Rollins in the United States’ All-American Team in Cuba’s International Tournament of 1939. Justice also held memberships to Theta Kappa Nu and Lambda Chi Alpha.

After his graduation, Justice taught and coached football at Winter Haven High School for one year. Additionally, he played professional baseball during the summers of 1940 and 1941. When the fall semester began, he returned to Rollins briefly as an assistant football coach, but left again in 1942 to become the head football coach at the University of Tampa.

The outbreak of World War II, however, temporarily diverted him to naval service. In the Navy, Justice served as the athletic and recreation director at Key West, and later as a member of the Landing Craft Tank (L.C.T.) amphibious group’s staff, which operated in the South Pacific. After his discharge with the rank of Lieutenant, Justice returned to Rollins in 1946 as a faculty member.

Justice attended coaching school in Worcester, Massachusetts, and began to coach football and baseball for Rollins in 1946. From 1948 until 1958, he functioned as assistant professor in physical education. Justice also conducted some graduate work at the University of North Carolina from 1948 until 1950. In 1951, he became the acting dean of men for Rollins until 1953, when he assumed the position formally, holding it until 1958. From 1958 to 1964, Justice served as an associate professor of physical education, in addition to taking on the role of director of athletics. Under Justice, the sports teams he coached became very successful and went to regional and final play-offs, bringing renown to the College. Additionally, Rollins became the smallest school in the history of college baseball to play in the College World Series of 1954, finishing second in the championships. His devotion towards the school earned him constant mention in local newspapers. In one article, Justice stated, “I don’t know of any place I’d rather be than at Rollins.” ^[10] For his dedication, Justice received the Rollins Decoration of Honor in 1957, an induction into the Rollins College Sports Hall of fame in 1977, and had his baseball jersey number retired. In addition, the American Association of College Baseball named Justice the “Coach of the Year” in 1967. In 1998 the mayor of Winter Park, Joseph Terranova, even proclaimed January 31 as “Joe Justice Day.”

Justice died on July 25, 2005. His marriage to Edith Scott produced five children: Dale Scott, Marion, Joseph Jr., Robert Bertram, and Stephanie Ann. Dale and Marion Justice would also eventually attend Rollins. In 1881, the Alumni Association attempted to recognize Joseph Justice’s contributions to the school with a stadium named in his honor. When he refused formal recognition, the executive director of the Association lamented, “it is a shame that after more than 40 years of service to Rollins Joe feels he must depart unnoticed.” ^[11] This, however, has not been the case.

– Angelica Garcia