GATORx W05.indd - College of Pharmacy - University of Florida

A UF Family Affair
By Linda Homewood, Photos by Jeff Knee
W
hen you enter Bill’s Prescription Center in Brandon, Fla., it’s hard to believe
the words, “Est. 1956” embossed into the threshold as you enter this modern
pharmacy bustling with pharmacists, technicians and clerks. It’s not unlike the
Walgreens across the street, except that it’s more like walking into a family reunion.
Justo “Bill” Noriega worked hard to open his
own pharmacy after he graduated from the University
of Florida College of Pharmacy in 1954. As his
business grew, so did his family of pharmacists.
In 1965, his sister, Melecia Noriega graduated as a
pharmacist from UF. In 1981, son John Noriega,
and in 1990, daughter Mary Noriega Denham also
graduated as pharmacists from UF.
Bill shows great pride in telling about his
family. His grandfather, a pharmacist in Cuba,
moved to Florida and practiced pharmacy in nearby
Ybor City. He describes his father, who was not a
pharmacist, as a tireless family man who worked
365 days a year. He calls his father his hero, who
taught him the work ethics that enabled Bill to put
himself through pharmacy school and later made his
business thrive.
“My father taught me that you only have to
work half a day,” Bill said, “So, I worked 12 hours
and I took 12 hours off.”
Applying the same “working math” to his retirement,
Bill still works about four hours a day while
his son, John, runs the family business full time.
Today, the pharmacy has 21 employees including
Mary, who works part time along with her family
responsibilities that include raising twins. Bill’s
sister, Melecia, completed her pharmacy internship
in the family store, but later went on to work in
hospital and other pharmacy settings.
The Noriegas have built their community
pharmacy practice on patient care from the first
year when Brandon had only 1,800 residents and
two doctors. Bill had a phone extension from the
business to his home next door. Pediatricians
called him in the middle of the night asking if he
could mix up drug formulas for babies. It did not
matter to Bill whether or not the families were his
customers.
“I had the first 24-hour pharmacy way back in
1956,” Bill states proudly. “For the first 14 years,
no one answered the store phone but me. When
patients called, they always spoke to the pharmacist,”
he said.
Robert and Marcia Mehaffy, both 84, have
been customers since the store opened in 1956.
Robert suffered an industrial accident in 1968 that
continued on page 6
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Spring 2005 GATORx | 5