Mr. George Waldo Lavalley's Obituary
George “Jim” Waldo Lavalley passed away on Jan. 16, 2015 from the world we know into the next at 81 years of age. After a spending the last 10 months in various hospitals and rehabilitation clinics, he succumbed to complications from pneumonia at Sarasota Memorial Hospital. He was born July 13, 1933 to George and Phoebe (Forsythe) Lavalley in the rural farm town of Sutton, Massachusetts. He was most recently living in Pinellas Park, and resided there for the last 10 years.
George left home at a very young age to join the US Navy, leaving behind two younger siblings who sought him out much later in life, Ernest and Robert Lavalley. Robert recently passed away, while Ernest remains alive and well in Tucson, AZ.
A Korean War veteran, George served on various ships in roles that saw him cooking in the galley or working on the deck of aircraft carriers like the USS Coral Sea. He was also part of the top-secret military project “Operation Castle” in 1954, a series of atomic weapons tests in the Philippines, including being witness to “Castle Bravo”, the largest nuclear weapon detonated by the United States -- something he only admitted to after it was proven to him declassified in the 1990s. He lived in Germany after completing his service and when speaking of his time there would never fail to highlight a story about how he once bowled with Elvis Presley.
Upon returning to the US in the late 50s, George found himself in various places, situations and occupations. He spent time in Arizona going to school and worked for Sears-Roebuck, participated in some form of amateur bull riding, and managed a car lot.
In the early 1960s, Lavalley moved to Miami Beach to work for the highly lauded but now-defunct Windjammer Barefoot cruises, a small fleet of sailing ships offering intimate cruising experiences throughout the Caribbean and Central America.
He took a break from Windjammer in 1964 and lived in St. Thomas for several years, working for local sail maker Manfred Dietrich on Hassel Island and later renting a large houseboat where he started his own awning, drapery and furniture reupholstering business. One story George was fond of sharing was of an evening he spent with some of the Beatles who stayed on his houseboat after they found their original accommodations at a hotel too crowded.
His small business didn’t last long and he went to work in Morgan City, Louisiana, for Garber Brothers Offshore. This new venture also only lasted a short while before he found himself back at Windjammer. It was on this return to Windjammer in 1972 that George Lavalley at 39 years old, while acting as first mate aboard the Flying Cloud during a voyage to Antigua, finally met his match, Katherine Isabelle Cooke -- and within three days, asked her to marry him, and she accepted.
They were married Nov. 17, 1973, at the Port Washington Yacht Club in Manhasset, Long Island. George and Katherine moved to New York where he was a property manager at an apartment complex, but the call of the islands was too strong however and they soon moved to St. Thomas. For a time George managed a marina, sold boats, and had a penchant for building wooden boats of his own, while Kathy worked for Jim Tillett, a painter and silk-screening artist, whose property on the Island is now known as Tillet Gardens. They also started the “Broadside Bar” together and later managed “The Poor Man’s Bar” where you were are given a glass, a bottle, and you poured your own drinks.
After eight years together, they had their first son, Benjamin, at Charlotte Amalie Hospital in St. Thomas on December 20th, 1981. Several years later he was joined by brother Albert, who was born in 1983. Deciding that they wanted to raise their sons in the United States, primarily for better schooling opportunities, they moved to Clearwater, Florida, temporarily staying with friends who were also recent St. Thomas transplants. George finally settled down in the area, briefly living in St. Petersburg and then Pinellas Park. He held various jobs while living here, ranging from working at Tim’s Oil Recovery Factory in Tampa to the Home Shopping Network in Largo and finally managing the front office at Park Auto Service in Pinellas Park, with some time spent handling accounting duties at his favorite local bar, American Legion Post #104.
George’s story remains largely unchanged from there, a man finally anchored by his family. In 2004 his wife Katherine was lost to complications following heart surgery. For the last 11 years he has kept himself busy with various hobbies -- golf, woodworking, painting, photography, crafting wax candles, and most of all, being a ferocious reader.
The service celebrating the life of George Lavalley, including military honors, will be held Sunday, Jan. 25, at 3 pm at Memorial Park Funeral Home.
Memorial Park Funeral Home, 5750 49th Street N., St. Petersburg, FL 33709, 727-527-1196
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