Staff Spotlight, Margaret “Peggy” Obear
Park Ranger Peggy Obear has one of the coolest jobs in the state of Florida.
Ranger Peggy gets to share her passion for history and general Florida knowledge while working at the museum dedicated to Dr. John Gorrie, the man who made the first ice machine and today is referred to as the father of refrigeration.
Peggy never imagined she would get to work in the state park that celebrates the inventor of artificial ice. Ice was a family business for the Obear Family as her grandfather and great grandfather owned an icehouse in Chicago, Illinois, on Lake Michigan. In the late 1920 and early 1930s, Peggy’s father also worked at the icehouse cutting and storing ice to be shipped and used in the summer.
Today she is committed to her third career as a park ranger in Apalachicola, which she finds to be much like Southwest Florida of the 1960s. She holds degrees in earth sciences, including geology and geography. When she is not giving tours, you can usually find Peggy working on landscaping projects at one of the three areas that make up John Gorrie Square in Apalachicola.
Ranger Peggy invites you to enjoy some cool air and learn how one man was able to change the way we live today.
