Fisher House Emerald Coast Eglin AFB

BOARD OF DIRECTORS, FISHER HOUSE OF THE EMERALD COAST

President,  Joe Oder

Vice President,  Tom Rice

Treasurer,  Brandy Wunker

Honorary, Susan Davis

Board Members:

Myra G. Arnold

Gordon Fornell

Tony Hughes

Robert H. Lynn 

Bruce E. Marshall

Joel M. Oxley

Shirley Pigott

Jeanne Rief

Jeff Riemer

Ken Walsh 

Board of Directors bios:

Joseph E. Oder brings to the industry over 32-years of government service. Having served in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, he retired as a Brigadier General. Since his retirement in 1997, he has worked in private industry. He has served as the President and Chief Operating Officer of Energy Dynamics Inc. located in Destin Florida. Prior to joining the Gorlin Companies Joe was the President of the Enterprise Engineering Group, Titan Corporation. Before joining Titan he was the Vice President of Federal operations for Nortel Networks.General Oder has a Bachelor of Science in Geology and a Master of Science in Economics.


 

Tom Rice is the owner and chef of The Magnolia Grill of Ft. Walton Beach, which he and his wife Peggy opened in 1996.  In 2004 the Magnolia Grill received Florida’s Good Neighbor Award from the National Restaurant Association and was the Greater Ft. Walton Beach Chamber of Commerce’s Small Business of the Year.  In July 2007, Congressman Jeff Miller recognized Tom and Peggy for humanitarian work in the Congressional Record of the 110th Congress. 

Tom is a member and past-Distinguished Secretary of the Ft. Walton Beach Kiwanis Club, Board Member of the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association, the Sugar Beach Sertoma, and is a Life Director of the American Cancer Society.  Tom also serves as Chairman of the Emerald Coast Bridge Authority, Board Member of Emerald Coast Honor Flight, Board Member of the Northwest Florida Chapter of the American Red Cross, Community Advisor for Covenant Hospice, and has served on the Fisher House of the Emerald Coast Board for the past two years.  He is a Life Member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and DAV 72.  He also serves on the Appointments Board to the U. S. Military Academy for U. S. Senator Mel Martinez.
In addition to giving talks on local history, Tom and his wife Peggy served as writers and copy editors of the book A Miracle Strip, which focuses on the work of the late photojournalist Arturo Mennillo.

Tom is a veteran and retired as First Sgt. from the United States Army.  He is married to Peggy Starkey Rice and they are the parents of one daughter, Meghan, who is a graduate of Auburn University and employed by the Florida Senate as a Legislative Aide to Senator Don Gaetz.

 



 

Fisher House Email:  julie@fisherhouseemeraldcoast.org

Fisher House of the Emerald Coast, Inc. is a not-for-profit organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the IRS code.

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