At his public memorial service Wednesday afternoon, a group of E.T. York's close friends spoke about his character inside Trinity United Methodist Church in Gainesville.

One quoted William Shakespeare by saying, "His life was gentle; and the elements so mixed in him, that nature might stand up, and say to all the world: this was a man."

"He was just a giant of a man, anybody and everything he touched were better because he touched them" said Al Alsobrook, former Vice President of Public Relations at the University of Florida.

"E.T. was just a down to earth guy, yet he walked with Kings, but kept the common touch as the poem says" he said.

York was the founder of the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, or IFAS.

The man who was described as a "global citizen" left his legacy on the world, and the community he called home.

"God gives us a gift of memories, and anyone who remembers their relationship with E.T. York will have indeed, fond memories" he said.