Class News

VIEW ALL CLASS NEWS

Today's Featured Biography

Paul Rhodenizer

Life has been fun. Following PHS, I joined the Navy and became a Pharmacy Technician, was stationed in Jacksonville, FL and later aboard the USS America during Viet Nam.

Following my discharge from the Navy in ’68, I enrolled at the University of Florida (my folks had left Portmouth to retire & there was no strong reason to return). I met my wife Linda at UF in 1969. Her Dad, a business professor there, was instrumental in getting me to switch majors from Medicine to Business. We were married in 1970 and I graduated with a BSBA in Business Management in 1972. I began a career that year in fashion retailing and have been involved in it ever since.

Our 1st child, Brett, was born in 1973 in Tampa, Florida where I was working as an Assistant Buyer for a large Florida department store. In 1976, we moved to Birmingham, Alabama, to accept a job as a Buyer in the Men's Department at Parisian, one of Alabama's top department stores. Later, I became a Merchandise Manager for them.

Travel and long hours were less than conducive to a healthy marriage, so in 1981, we decided to return to Florida and start our own business in Gainesville where we first met. In 1983, our daughter Erica was born. Oddly enough, in 1987, we bought a well-established Bridal Business and ran that as well as our original venture.

Our children are now grown and married with children of their own. Our Bridal and Formalwear business has flourished and we have become one of the larger privately owned bridal businesses in the State. I still work 7 days a week, have never been able to attend a reunion, and have often wondered how many of my friends at PHS are doing these days. I found this website totally by accident and thank Gary Dozier for getting the ball rolling.

VIEW ALL BIOGRAPHIES