BRUCE BLOUNT
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Bruce Blount was born in Pompano, Florida (before it adopted the name Pompano Beach). He grew up in Broward County and was one of four children--two boys and two girls. He went to the local public schools and graduated with honors from Pompano High School. He graduated from college with a degree in animal husbandry. He was married to Lois Hyde from Mississippi. He served four and one-half years in the service during World War II. He returned to this area and worked with his father and brother. He was elected Mayor of Pompano in 1956. He inherited land in Northwest Broward County from his father and raised cattle on it. He conceived a unique ‘people's city’ in 1959 and had it chartered in 1963. The new city's name was PARKLAND! |
VAN E. COGGINS
VINCENT STEVENS
1966 - 1968
Vincent Stevens was born in New York City in 1927. He attended and graduated public schools in Garden City Long Island. He volunteered to serve in the Coast Guard during World War II. After the war he went into the restaurant business in Ft. Lauderdale with his father and branched out into his own very successful catering business. In 1949, he became licensed in Florida as a trainer and owner of thoroughbreds in Parkland. He bought a home in Parkland for his family during the early years of incorporation. In 1966, because of his business acumen, he was appointed as the 3rd Mayor of Parkland. He retired in 1968. His horse ventures required him to relocate several times. He retired in 1998 and still lives in Florida.JOHN QUIGLEY
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John Quigley was born in 1925 in the Boston, Massachusetts area. He attended and graduated from local Boston schools. From his early teens, John was a workaholic and known as a born salesman. His whole life was devoted to sales of one kind or another. After the WW II, he moved to Florida, married and had three boys. In 1966 he moved to Parkland and formed a Florida licensed insurance agency. He also served as a control beverage agent for the State of Florida. He was selected as the 4th mayor because of his abilities. His wife became the 2nd official city clerk. Mr. Quigley died in office in February, 1972 at the age of 66 and was buried in Fall River, Massachusetts. |
JAMES MANNING
1972 - 1972
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James Manning was originally from Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Mannings came to Florida in 1961. He was a highly successful industrialist and fish farmer. He was a hobby aquarist and raised ‘walking catfish’ in the one acre pond behind his home which was located on fifteen acres. He and his wife Dorothy moved from Lighthouse Point to the unincorporated area next to Parkland at the end of 1969. He was the father of four children--three girls and a boy. He was appointed as the 5th mayor of Parkland, by the then serving commissioners, to fill the 1972 unexpired term of Mayor John Quigley. He did not run for election in November 1972 because he was not a resident of the city. (His portrait is a computer projection of what he looked like at that time.) |
HAROLD J. BOCKHOLD
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Harold Bockhold was born in 1926 in Chicago, Illinois. He joined the Army Air Force after graduation in 1943 and served for 30 months. He moved to Florida on Christmas Day 1946 and served an electrical apprenticeship, studied other trades, passed the examinations and became a licensed Electrical Contractor and General Contractor. He moved to Parkland in 1965 with his wife (a Broward County girl) and their four young children. He created Criterion Farms for Thoroughbred horses. He served the city as the first unpaid building inspector and was selected to the City Commission. He ran for Mayor in 1972 and was elected Parkland’s 6th mayor. His platform was to keep the legislators from abolishing the city and was successful in doing so. Harold was instrumental in establishing the Parkland Historical Society. |
ANNE "BECKY" D. GERREN
1978 - 1986
Anne “Becky” Gerren was born Anne Dew in Oakland Park, Florida in 1932. She attended a local elementary school and graduated from Ft. Lauderdale High School in 1950. She married John M. Gerren Jr., a Civil Engineer, and later the Broward County Engineer. They had three children, two girls and a boy. The Gerren family moved to Parkland in 1973. Becky was an admirable activist in maintaining low residential density developments. In 1978, she was elected the 7th Mayor of Parkland. Coincidently, Mayor Gerren presided over the only City Commission in the State of Florida that was entirely comprised of women. She is credited with having an election to revise and amend the City Charter and have the Municipal Code Corporation of Tallahassee, Florida create the present code of ordinances used by the City of Parkland.The first city-owned City Hall was dedicated at 6500 Parkside Drive during her administration. She served on the Broward County Planning Council and represented Parkland on the Northwest Council of Mayors and the Broward County Environment Coalition. In 1987 she was appointed to the North Broward Hospital District Board of Directors, where she was involved in raising the funds necessary to open the Pediatric Care Unit at the Broward General Hospital. She past away in 2000. She served her community well and will be remembered for that.
JOSEPH LETTELIER
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Joseph Lettelier was born in Ft. Lauderdale in 1944. He graduated from Ft. Lauderdale High School, enlisted in the Army and served three years in Europe. He went to work for his father in the electrical trade and took the State examamination to become a certified Florida Electrical Contractor. He was a consummate hunter for deer and wild hogs. He leased pasture land west of the city in the 1960’s and the early 1970’s and became a cattleman. He moved to Parkland in 1971. He served as a Commissioner from 1978 to 1982 and was elected the 8th Mayor in 1986. He became an elected Commissioner again and served another term from 1989 to 1992. He relocated to north Florida with his wife and two girls to raise the Brangus Show Cattle. His dedicated service in improving the City government will always be remembered. He was a stalwart supporter of the “Rule of Law.” |
"SAL" PAGLIARA
1988 - 2003
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Sal Pagliara was born in
Force, Pennsylvania in 1930. He attended elementary school and graduated
from technical school in New Jersey.
After graduating from school, he served in the Navy Air Division until 1950.
He married Dorothy, from Jacksonville, and they had five children--a son and four daughters.
He was a carpenter contractor until they moved to Ft. Lauderdale in 1955. In 1968 they moved to Parkland.
Sal was an early low density activist in the City. In 1980, he organized a
volunteer land planning council of citizens to provide input to the Mayor and
Commissioners. He organized the first homeowners association in Parkland
[PHO] during Ms. Gerren’s term as Mayor. |
ROBERT A. MARKS
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Robert Marks was born in New York City in 1939. He attended public schools on Long Island.
After graduation he studied at Syracuse
University and graduated in 1961. He met his wife, Carolyn at Syracuse and they were married in 1963. They have two sons. After
graduation, Bob served in the Air Force National Guard Reserve. He continued
his studies and was certified a CPA in New York
State in 1980. He moved to Florida in 1984, passed the Florida CPA examination and was
certified in 1984. He and his family moved to Parkland in
1985 and he because a member of the Parkland Planning and Zoning committee in
1986. |
MICHAEL UDINE
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Michael Udine grew up in Livingston, New Jersey, moved to South Florida in 1980, and attended J. P. Taravella High School in Coral Springs. In 1986, he graduated from the University of Florida with a Bachelor’s degree in Finance. He earned his J.D. Law degree in 1989. He began his professional career in the commercial litigation department at the Miami office of White and Case, one of the largest law firms in the United States with offices throughout the world. In 1991, he began working at the law firm of Udine & Udine in Northwest Broward focusing on Insurance litigation, commercial collections and family law. Mr. Udine is a former adjunct professor in the business/legal program at Broward Community College and is a lecturer for the National Business Institute specializing in continuing education classes for business, insurance and legal professionals. He is a member of the Florida Bar, the Broward County Bar Association, and the Federal Bar for the Southern District of Florida. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Broward League of Mayors and Florida League of Mayors. Mr. Udine has lived in Parkland since 1995 and is married with three children. He was appointed by the City Commission to the Broward County Metropolitan Planning Organization and was a former member of the Parkland Planning and Zoning Board and the Parkland Code Enforcement Board. He has been very active in local schools, religious and civic organizations. He was elected a City Commissioner in March 2003 and was elected as the 11th Mayor of Parkland in 2006. |