Members You Need to Meet
Ed Zapke
July, 2010
One of the many reasons this monthly feature is written is to recognize people who enhance quality of life for PGI residents, hence for our community as a whole. Ed Zapke is assuredly one of those people.
Years ago, Ed worked with Dave Phelen and Pete McLewin to expand the voice of area Homeowner Associations by representing them with one voice. The result was the South Charlotte County Coalition (SCCC) which is made up of major subdivisions Burnt Store Isles, Punta Gorda Isles, Burnt Store Meadows and Burnt Store Lakes and the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO). Ed serves on the Board of the SCCC/MPO and acts as its’ liaison on the PGICA Board.
He volunteers countless hours of his time year after year representing us without fanfare or monetary reward.
The SCCC Board addresses civic problems affecting its constituents and works with the city and county to resolve them. Two newsworthy accomplishments of the SCCC include installing cameras at the on and off ramps to I-75 to capture trucks avoiding the weight station and reviving the Aqui Esta project, stalled for so many years.
Living by the sea on Long Island, New York all his life, near Mt. Sinai with its beautiful harbor, he recalls learning to swim as a child from his boat. He never could get the saltwater out of his veins, so started racing sailboats and sailed for twenty-five years from Maine to Florida and even Bermuda. In 1967, Ed married Maureen. She was a social worker, but prior to retirement worked for a hospice caring for patients from infants to the elderly.
Ed taught math…remedial to calculus from seventh grade to college. He was Chairman of his Math Department, President of the Suffolk County Teachers’ Association and went on to a State Supervisor’s Association position. He wrote curriculum for local and state agencies and gained a wealth of experience working with Boards and political entities. After a teaching career of thirty years, Ed, with wife Maureen at his side searched for warmer weather and followed friends south to Punta Gorda in 1999.
As President of PGICA in 2003, he helped formulate the move out of our West Marion location, a superb decision we remain grateful for today.
We thank him for continuously striving to improve the quality of life in our community. His quick mind and sage advice remain wonderful assets for the people he quietly and unselfishly chooses to serve.
The SCCC meets at 9 a.m. on the fourth Thursday of the month at the PGICA. A guest speaker is usually first on the agenda.
The MPO meets three more times in 2010. Meetings are held at the Punta Gorda City Hall, Mondays at 2 p.m. The remaining dates are 8/9, 10/11, 12/13.
If you, like Ed Zapke are interested in the future of our community, you are invited to attend either or both.