A lifetime of community service and professional accomplishment helped Bob Sharek on June 26 get appointed to the Indian Harbour Beach City Council to serve out the unexpired term of Gene Newberry until November.
Sharek moved to Indian Harbour Beach six years ago after 30 years in Satellite Beach. A retired Air Force officer, he retired a second time in 2011 after 27 years with Rockwell International, finishing as corporate security operations manager.
To get involved in his new community, he filled a seat on the IHB Police Retirement Trust Fund board and over the past five years has attended most City Council meetings. He said he always wanted to join the council because he was impressed at the teamwork they demonstrated, not only within the council, but also between the council and the other city departments.
“As for the City Council, I simply waited for an opening,’’ he said. Sharek was the only one of the five candidates interviewed by council to be nominated, before the unanimous vote.
During his presentation, he stressed the need to plan for transportation and recreation needs while helping to improve the Indian River Lagoon. He was asked to fill the vacant seat immediately and from then on was part of votes.
Sharek has an accounting degree from Florida State University and an executive MBA from Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne. He was an adjunct professor of mathematics for Eastern Florida State College, formerly Brevard Community College, for 17 years.
He is a board-certified Senior Professional in Human Resources.
Sharek and his wife, Fran, went to high school together in Orlando and were married on New Year’s Eve, 1966. They have two sons: Chris, an environmental engineer in Sarasota, and Andy, a teacher living in Virginia.
As for the future of his community involvement, after finishing out Newberry’s term in November, “I hope to be able to find my place on the council and contribute to the continued development and growth of our amazing city,’’ he said.
