William Ben Pearce, Jr. was born in Joliet, Illinois on November 25, 1932 where his father was a heavy equipment operator for The Arundel Corporation, a nationwide heavy construction firm. Shortly after his birth the family moved to Baltimore, Maryland, Washington, D.C. and New York City. In 1940 they moved to Puerto Rico until World War II broke out and they moved to Eustis, Florida. He was active in the Boy Scouts and became an Eagle Scout in 1949. After graduating from Eustis High School in 1950 he attended The Citadel, the Military College of S.C. where he earned a B.S. in Civil Engineering and a commission as a 2nd Lieutenant in the U S Army Corps of Engineers. He served 2 years in Europe with SCARWAF (Special Category Army with the Air Force) building military family housing in Germany and France and airfields in England. In 1957 he moved to Miami, Florida as a dredging and marine construction engineer. His career took him to Baltimore, later to Tampa, and Fort Pierce with other dredging companies. He remained in the Army Reserve until he was Honorably Discharged in 1969 with the rank of Major. In 1977 he was chairman of Florida Engineers in Construction- a section of the Florida Engineers Society. He was a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers since 1954. During his dredging and consulting work he was involved in beach nourishment projects in counties from Duval County to Walton County. After 33 years of dredging and marine construction he changed his career by becoming the District Engineer with the Suwanee River Water Management District. In 1994 he became Environmental Permits Engineer with Florida Department of Transportation in Tampa - later transferring to FDOT in DeLand as Assistant Drainage Permits Engineer and then as coordinator for 13 cities performing almost $1,000,000 of highway maintenance for the District. He retired after 11 years with FDOT in March 2005. In retirement he was employed as a monitoring consultant for beach nourishment projects in Florida. He was a Registered Professional Engineer in Florida, Maryland, and South Carolina. He is survived by his wife of 11 years Donna Jeanne Pearce, sister Selma Jean Sperry, son William Pearce his wife Karen, Grandson Will Pearce, Step Children Stephen Bateman his wife Nancy, Kathy Kagiwada her husband Eric, Phillip Bateman his wife Ginny, Lynn Polan her husband Michael, Step Grandchildren Courtney Bateman, Amanda Kagiwada, Emily Alendale her husband Daniel, Nichole Polan, Nicholas Kagiwada, Michael Vito Polan, Brandon Polan, Step Gret Grandchildren Mason and Makayla Alendal, niece Karen Smith, Great Niece Shawna Smith, Preceded in death by son David Pearce, Nephew Jack Sperry, Jr. A Celebration of Life will be Saturday, September 26, 2015 at 11 am at Northside Baptist Church, Apopka Florida.
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