Philip Innes Eschbach Jr. was born in Melbourne, Fla., on Aug. 19, 1923, as a tenth-generation Southerner and a fourth-generation Floridian. During World War II he was a combat pilot in the United States Air Force. Eschbach graduated with honors from UF in 1950 with a bachelor’s degree and in 1951 with a master’s degree. He was an English teacher in Brevard County for 30 years and retired in 1981. He and his wife, Teresa, have been married for more than 58 years and have two children and three grandchildre