Linda Lopez Gandy, Class of 1965, and husband Jim Gandy, Class of 1964, will be moving to their new home in Alachua, Florida in January.

Alachua is in the Gainesville/University of Florida area. Their son lives in Gainesville.

Linda is president of the Monongah High Alumni Association and has spearheaded the Monongah High Alumni Reunion, the longest continuous high school reunion in West Virginia history. Jim is on the alumni board of directors.

Linda’s father, the late Sam Lopez, was among the last two dozen survivors of the USS Indianapolis sinking when he passed away at the age of 93.

Sam, along with 317 others, spent four days and nights in shark-infested waters. Because they were carrying materials for the atomic bomb that was going to be dropped on Japan no one knew where they were when the Japanese sank the USS Indianapolis.

A pilot making a routine flight spotted the rafts and survivors accidentally. A month later, Japan surrendered after the U.S. dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Sam’s name is on a U.S. 19 bridge near Gypsy.

Linda was on the late Coach Gene Kendzior’s Monongah girls softball team that won the Marion County championship in 1960 by defeating Watson under the lights at East-West Stadium.

As someone who has spent up to four months at a time for 30 years winterizing in Florida I will admit that I'm jealous of Linda and Jim's good fortune. May the sun always shine on their happiness. In Florida, there's a good chance of that.