Elmer Ellsworth Badger, 88, of Ocoee, FL and Havana, FL passed away Friday, December 5, 2014. A graveside service will be held at 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday, December 10th at Beulah Cemetery in Winter Garden, FL. Elmer was born August 18, 1926, to Julia White Badger and Byron Badger amidst the orange groves of central Florida. He was raised by a family of citrus-growers in Ocoee, FL and learned at an early age to love growing plants of any kind, but especially oranges. He attended Ocoee School for 12 years before proudly serving during World War II in the Army Air Force. After service he got both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education at his beloved University of Florida in Gainesville (Go Gators!), and then returned to Ocoee School where he taught vocational agriculture for 30 years. He is so proud of his many years of teaching boys how to grow things that he has asked to have “Dirt Teacher” engraved on his tombstone. One of the loves of his life was his wife of 66 years, Lois Evelyn Rayborn Badger, whom he met at the Coliseum Skating Rink in Orlando and married in 1948. Elmer and Lois spent many happy days gambling in Biloxi, cruising the seas, and vacationing on Sanibel Island and Marco Island. Another love was the Florida Gators. Two weeks before he died Elmer drove to a jewelry store to have his University of Florida graduation ring downsized. He had lost so much weight in his final months of life that it would no longer stay on his finger. He wanted to wear his Gator ring to the end. A third love was growing citrus. Even though he had moved in 2009 to Havana, FL where his daughter lived, he decided at the age of 85 to plant a citrus grove with over 50 trees. He grew the rootstock from seed, budded the seedlings, planted them and then tended the grove until a few months before his death. So far the young trees have survived the cold Havana winters. Elmer was a member of Beulah Baptist Church in Winter Garden for over 60 years, and will be buried next to his mother, his Uncle Milford White and Aunt Rosie White in the peaceful, shady Beulah Baptist Cemetery next to a serene lake. He is survived by his wife of 66 years, Lois Badger; his daughters Lynn Badger of Havana, FL and Julie Lee of Destin, FL; and grandchildren Bryce Hatley and Brette Hatley of central Florida.
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