Social Work Alumnus Creates An Unforgettable Legacy of Service and Support for FSU Student Veterans
In January 1945, 24-year-old Jacksonville native Alfred ("Al”) John Hamwey was an Army pilot in the Pacific flying a mission near Papua New Guinea. After two successful airstrike runs, he didn’t return to his base. It would then be almost eighty years before 2nd Lieutenant Hamwey’s remains were recovered, identified and repatriated to his home in Florida.
Throughout those eighty years, his brother Leon Hamwey never forgot him or his sacrifice for his country. When Leon passed in 2000, he was still thinking of his missing brother and repeated something he had often said to his daughters, Peggy and Kathryn, over the years: “Don’t forget Al.”
Now his brother Al will not be forgotten, thanks to the generosity of Bob Flaige, a 1971 alumnus of the College of Social Work, and his wife Marsha. The Flaiges created and endowed the 2nd Lt. Alfred Hamwey Fund at the FSU Student Veterans Center to support student veterans pursuing their education at Florida State University.
A Little Support Makes All the Difference
“I came to FSU as a transfer student in 1965. One of my first classes was Dr. Martin Roeder’s chemistry class where half of all students failed,” Bob recalled. “When I realized I might be in that failing half, I took an incomplete and enlisted in the Army, requesting airborne training with assignment in Vietnam.”
In Vietnam, Bob’s service earned him the rank of Staff Sergeant and a Purple Heart. After completing his tour of duty and returning to the United States, Bob also returned to Florida State. “Returning to FSU after my military service, I was determined to succeed, but first I had to meet with Dr. Roeder due to my poor academic record,” Bob said. “Dr. Roeder, who was a World War II veteran, gave me a year to get my grades up. I didn’t disappoint him. I went on to be a Dean’s List student.”
Bob devoted his career to youth services after earning a degree in criminal justice from what was then the FSU School of Social Welfare. He spent his career in leadership with the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice.
The Flaiges remained die-hard FSU fans, in part because of the second chance Bob’s professor Dr. Roeder offered him and the career that his education afforded him. Bob always knew that one day he wanted to say thank you to his alma mater by giving back and helping other FSU students.
Giving Back to Student Veterans
After a health emergency early in 2026, Bob was convinced that now was the time. Bob collaborated with the College of Social Work’s Director of Development, Paige McKay Kubik, and Ashley Cole, Director of Development for the FSU Foundation's Office of Gift and Estate Planning, about his philanthropic interests in supporting veterans and juvenile justice at Florida State. He also discussed how he might fund a gift from retirement funds or his estate plan.
Then, he remembered the story of fellow Jacksonville Army veteran, 2nd Lt. Alfred Hamwey. Bob began searching for surviving family members of 2nd Lt. Hamwey and, through a Facebook message, eventually connected with his niece, Peggy Hamwey Wilford.
Peggy, a 1979 FSU alumna, remembered finding the message from a stranger in her inbox. “I was surprised and overwhelmed by Bob’s generous out-of-the-blue offer to help us remember our uncle with a gift to veteran students at my alma mater, FSU,” she expressed. “It would have meant so much to my dad to know his brother would be remembered in this way.”
On October 30, Bob and Marsha Flaige and members of the Hamwey family, including Peggy Hamwey Wilford, Kathryn Hamwey Driggers, and Wayne Driggers, traveled to Tallahassee to meet with FSU Veterans Center Director Billy Francis to celebrate the creation of the 2nd Lt. Alfred Hamwey Fund at the annual Veterans Alumni reception.
“Just this week, a veteran student came to me, unable to afford a desk and a chair for her apartment,” Billy shared with the gathering. “Thanks to the Hamwey Fund, we can respond to needs like this.”
By endowing the 2nd Lt. Alfred Hamwey Fund, Bob and Marsha Flaige have ensured that Al is not forgotten. His memory will live in perpetuity through this fund and the FSU veteran students it supports.
Donations to the 2nd Lt. Alfred Hamwey Fund may be made at give.fsu.edu/HamweyVetFund.