Class of 1970, 1975, 1980, 2014, 2016
Over three generations, members of the extended Bredenberg family embrace travel and adventure, an active lifestyle, and a lifelong love for learning—qualities they tie back to their time at the College.
Their story began in the mid-1960s, when Dick Bredenberg was a professor of secondary education in the early years of then-Florida Presbyterian College. His wife, Huldah, was a grade-school teacher and also involved in the life of the College, hosting students at their home and starting a folk dance club. When Dick took a sabbatical and traveled to Japan to teach at a girls’ school there, Huldah and the family came too. That stay became the foundation for the Eckerd Kinjo Japanese exchange program.
Three of the four Bredenberg children—Ingrid Bredenberg ’70, a strategic leadership coach; Eric Bredenberg ’75, retired from the publishing industry; and Sigrid Flor ’80, a massage therapist—attended Eckerd.
Visiting Leif at Eckerd with my family (pictured: Izayah (Eric’s step-son), Trey Fisher ’13, Tiffany Flor Fisher ’14, Alan Flor, Sigrid Flor ’80, Leif Flor ’16)
The tuition was free for the first generation of Bredenberg children, but, according to them, the education they received was priceless.
“Eckerd was probably the biggest outside influence—other than my parents—on my whole life,” Eric says. “Eckerd was transformational, and in so many ways, it was perfect for me.”
“It really did lay the groundwork of a purposeful life, of one of service,” says Ingrid, who was honored in 2024 with the College’s Grover C. Wrenn ’64 Service Award.
Sigrid’s children—Tiffany Flor Fisher ’14, a mom and data analyst, and Leif Flor ’16, a software engineer—also went on to graduate from Eckerd.
When Tiffany was deciding where to go to college—not a foregone conclusion!—she remembers Eric asking her, “Do you want to grow primarily as a person or an academic?”
“My path became clear. It was time to grow holistically as a person,” she recalls. She chose Eckerd, where she also met her husband, Trey Fisher ’13.
They all traveled as students—Eric spent a year and a half abroad in Japan, Sigrid traveled to Japan as well, and Ingrid recalls hitchhiking across Europe carrying her comparative literature textbooks in a backpack. Decades later, Tiffany and Leif took their own trips—Tiffany to Japan and Ecuador, and Leif to New Zealand.
“That was a big part of my development—getting more of a worldly view, understanding different perspectives outside of the U.S.,” Leif says
Eric Bredenberg ’75 dances with Katie Crane ’76 during their time as students.
Tiffany Flor Fisher ’14 and her classmates on a Winter Term trip to Japan in 2012.
When Eric looks at his family, he sees a perspective shift in every Eckerd graduate.
“Everyone was impacted in a very special way that has made some major change in their life direction,” he says.
Sigrid says she first learned to be a good listener at Eckerd, and says much of what her clients value in a massage is the time to be heard.
“Eckerd taught me there was value in being able to be comfortable with all types of people, and to know that we’re all one despite our differences,” she says.
Ingrid remembers how the formative speakers, faculty, and class discussions in those early years shaped the way she thought about the world.
The Bredenberg family members smile in front of Fox Pond during Reunion Weekend 2025. Left to right: Esmée Einerson, Sigrid Flor ’80, Alan Flor, Ingrid Bredenberg ’70, Berkeley Grimball, Leif Flor ’16, Eric Bredenberg ’75, Zara, Tiffany (Flor) Fisher ’14 and Trey Fischer ’13
“At the time, the freshman year core curriculum seemed designed to rip away all of our belief systems, so that we could start anew and re-choose, not those of our parents or of our culture, but of our own making,” she says.
Huldah and Professor Emeritus Dick Bredenberg at the First Unity Church
“I felt good that my kids had that experience and learned to become critical thinkers, too,” Sigrid says.
At the 2025 Reunion Weekend, the entire family, along with some of Dick’s former students, gathered on campus to plant a tree near the library in memory of Dick and Huldah and all that they meant to Eckerd.. They shared stories and memories, like Dick riding a bike around campus distributing gardenias to college staff, and the culture of giving that Dick and Huldah cultivated
The Bredenbergs stand alongside the tree planted in their family’s honor on campus.
Ultimately, the Bredenberg and Flors say that their connection to Eckerd is about more than their family ties.
“We appreciate all that Eckerd is, not just for us, but for the students that attend,” Ingrid says. “It feels like a really good investment of our time, our money, and anything else we can offer.”
Eric Bredenberg ’75
