On December 26, 1985, Alex Fears, Jr. was killed in a hunting accident on private land adjacent to Chattahoochee State Park in Houston County, Alabama. While unloading lumber from the bed of his pickup truck, a sheet of plywood struck a loaded double-barrel shotgun which discharged and killed Alex immediately. A lifetime resident of Greenwood, Florida, he worked for the Northwest Florida Water Management District (NWFWMD) for five years as an Aquatic Plant Control Technician. Prior to his employment with the District, he worked for the Production Credit Association for five years. He was a diligent and dependable worker, and will be missed by all of those who knew him.