ROBERT ALLEN EPPERSON

After high school, I joined several classmates (Butch Myers, Ronnie Darnell, Roger Scott and Jimmy Slaughter)  at Tennessee Polytechnic Institute in Cookville, Tennessee.  While home on Christmas break my Sophomore year, I came down with pneumonia and dropped out of school.  Once out of school, I had no motivation to return to Tech.  So, I enrolled at Chattanooga Tech an took engineering courses for a couple of quarters.  This actually turned out to be a good move.  A local company, D. M. Stewart Manufacturing, contacted the school seeking an engineering student with design skills to work in their Manufacturing Engineering Department.  I was their choice, and employment with this company set my life on a new course.

After starting my new job, I  immediately restarted my Sophomore year with  night classes at the University of Chattanooga.  Then, a great thing happened.  D. M. Stewart liked me so much, they permitted me to take day classes and to adjust my work schedule accordingly.  From this time until I graduated, I carried eighteen credit hours per semester and worked forty hours per week.  In 1967, I graduated with a 3.0 average and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Engineering Physics.

In 1965 I married Janice Harvey, a blond that I met at the East Chattanooga Community Center the Summer after my Freshman year in college.  Janice was born in Boston but is a true Southern Belle.  She is a graduate of Kirkman High School in Chattanooga.  In December 1966, our daughter, Rama, was born.  So, I was not only working forty hours per week and carrying eighteen semester hours, I was a father and husband.  Needless to say, this was a time of physical and mental exhaustion.  I am confident that this is why I never went to graduate school.  I had nothing left to give.

I graduated at a great time.  The demand for engineers was phenomenal.  I interviewed ten companies and received nine offers.  I accepted a position with Combustion Engineering in Chattanooga and reported to work two days after graduation.  I worked in the Nuclear Division in Design Engineering until 1976.

In 1970, our second and last child was born, Robert, Jr.  He is a graduate of the University of Georgia with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Environmental Health.

1976 was a turning point in my life.  I took a job in Panama City, Florida; and for the first time in my life, I was truly on my own.  Moving from home and family was probably the most difficult decision of my life.  My Mother has never forgiven me.  I went to work for Nuclear Power Products, a company that made gas cooled reactors.  My experience in Combustion's Nuclear Division made this opportunity possible.  This move also turned out to be a key move in my life, as I met influential people who would guide my career.

The President of Nuclear Power Products accepted employment at another company a year after my arrival.   A few months later, he contacted me and offered me employment at a new company to be built in Panama City.  I accepted and became the Engineering Manager.  I remained in this position until 1980 when my life took another major turn.  The president of the company advised me to get sales experience if I expected to ever have a staff level position.  So, I transferred into sales and moved to Atlanta as a Sales Engineer.  Two years later, I became the Southeastern Regional Manager.  

In 1988, my daughter gave me my only grandchild, Erika.  She is definitely a Grandpa's girl and spends three weeks with us every summer.   

In 1986, my company purchased a major competitor, Merrick Industries, a manufacturer of scales, feeders and metering devices.  The new acquisition was moved to our facility in Panama City, and I returned to Panama City in 1989 as Vice President of Sales.  In 1994 my career came full circle as  I was made Vice President of Engineering.   In 1997, I was promoted to Executive Staff and given profit-loss responsibility for the Process Industry Division of our company.  In 2000, our company decided to enter the water and waste water treatment markets, and I was asked to head this new division.  I am currently Executive Vice President of the Water Treatment Division of Merrick Industries.

When younger, I was an avid outdoorsman.  Hunting and dirt biking in the mountains of Tennessee encompass some of my fondest memories.   Florida, however, is very different from Tennessee.  Heat, gnats, sand and Pine Trees are no substitute for the beauty of Tennessee.  So, I gave up the outdoor life for the electronic one.  My escapes from the stresses of work are computers and Home Theater.  My home is an electronics jungle.  I think my wife coined " computer widow."

During my life, I have been very active in church work.  I taught Sunday School for several years and have written several Bible studies.  In fact, I am currently writing a book regarding an Old Testament Bible study.  In 1993, I was given the opportunity to give an Easter Service at a dear pastor friend's church.

Being realistic, I have little to show for all my years of work.  I have published a genealogy book on my ancestry that will endue the test of time.  But when all is said and done, my legacy will be my children.   Of all I've done in life, they are the only things of value that I bequeath to the future.   Because of them, I count my life a success.