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JAMES PENCE Obituary
James Akers Pence passed away while working in his beloved butterfly yard at dusk on Sunday evening, September 25, 2016.
He was born in Little Rock, Arkansas on February 10, 1948 and during his high school years, he participated as a singer and musician with the Retreat Singers, an Episcopalian student group which traveled and performed internationally. Akers continued to play music with his Retreat Singer friends whenever he visited Little Rock.
He graduated with a degree in English from Hendrix College in Arkansas in 1970.
After graduation, he moved to New York City to study with the Arica Institute where he met Linda Hoolahan in 1976. They married in 1984 and lived in Brooklyn while working as part of the teaching teams for the School of Tai Chi Chuan and the Arica Institute until 1996.
They moved to Gainesville in 1997 and Akers attended graduate school at the University of Florida where he earned a Ph.D. in Entomology in December 2005.
He worked as a researcher for the endangered Miami Blue and Schaus Swallowtail butterflies. He dazzled his friends with his curiosity and excitement regarding spiders, butterflies, and other pollinators.
He is survived by his wife, Linda Pence, his sister, Marilela Pence Bloom, his nephew, Ellis Bloom and his niece Liz Hartwell.
Akers will be laid to rest in the Prairie Creek Conservation Cemetery. Please visit his memorial page at
www.williamsthomas
funeralhome.com.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
WILLIAMS-THOMAS
DOWNTOWN
(352) 376-7556
To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.
Memories and Condolences
for JAMES PENCE
Aissa (Doumbouya) Sylla
September 30, 2016
Your love for entomology and your undeniable curiosity inspired us all. Rest in peace.
September 30, 2016
Gone , gone , gone beyond Another one gone too soon
Hutch
September 30, 2016
Akers: Thank you for the guided butterfly walks at Prairie Creek Preserve, where your remains will become part of the eternal landscape. As friends were finishing the digging of your grave, a single Gulf Fritillary flashed red, black, and silver overhead, with worldly concerns and no fear of the unknown in its short, beautiful life.
Diane Retzloff Haynes
September 29, 2016
Sing with the angels, James Akers.
September 29, 2016
Although we recently met through the Master Gardener Program, I will miss you. Rest in beautiful peace.
Sandy Wasserman
September 29, 2016
I hardly ever cry - but I cried for Akers. Must first thought was NO - IT'S NOT POSSIBLE...... Other people get old and then their time comes - but never for Akers - not while I'm still alive. He was LIFE!!!!! He was there for me to be my teacher - just by being Akers. He is not gone - he will always be there - just in another form.
THKR
Pam Hunt and Gene Thursby
September 29, 2016
We wish Akers the highest possible evolution.
He will be dearly missed.
Joann Alarid
September 29, 2016
Thoughts and prayers are with you during this very very sad time
Janet Guminsky
September 29, 2016
The music lives onso does our love
Pam Howell
September 29, 2016
I am shocked and saddened to learn of Akers' passing. What a nice, personable, and happy man he was, always smiling and always with a cheerful comment. I'll miss him for a long, long time. Rest in peace, beautiful man.
Ida Darragh
September 29, 2016
Fly on, James Akers. We will forever miss your beautiful spirit.
September 29, 2016
Death is not extinguishing the light ; it is putting out the lamp for dawn has come . Rabindranath Tagore
We will miss you Jim
Steve Gibson
Rev. Allen Bates
September 29, 2016
Since the age of 15 I have had the joy and privilege of knowing Akers through the Retreat Singers. I was the percussionist and he the lead guitarist. Much of our conversation was nonverbally though our music. For me, the benefits went beyond language and I am eternally grateful for my time with this man of kindness, loving spirit and intensity. In the Retreat Sungers we coined the word "WAH" to express our love. So, Wah, dear Akers. As your soul now soars, I am grateful for knowing you, so grateful.
Mary Ann Algeo
September 29, 2016
Lord please bless and comfort this family with your presence and everlasting Love and peace.
Joanna Caputa
September 29, 2016
God bless you Akers. Your joy in the beauty of nature was a gift to all who knew you.
September 29, 2016
Don Cavanaugh
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Funeral services provided by:
Williams-Thomas Funeral Home Downtown404 North Main Street, Gainesville, FL 32601
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