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Prominent environmentalist dies
By JOSH ZIMMER, Times Staff Writer CARROLLWOOD -- David McGarvey, head of the Tampa Bay Sierra Club and husband of state House candidate Lynn McGarvey, died suddenly in his sleep Friday morning. He was 69. His death from a heart attack shocked the environmental community, where he was known as a "a quiet powerhouse," according to activist and Hillsborough County Commission candidate Dee Layne. Mrs. McGarvey said she and her husband of 42 years were a team. "He just supported me in every way," she said. "It's going to hurt not having him around. A lot." A Navy veteran from the Pittsburgh area, Mr. McGarvey was selected as chairman of the local Sierra Club two years ago, said Michael Miller, the club's Suncoast group chairman. Like others, Miller remembered him working for years behind the scenes on so-called smart growth issues, an integrated approach to water conservation, slower growth and public transportation. "David McGarvey was fairly soft-spoken. He didn't bring a lot of attention to himself," Miller said. "He was really about bringing focus to whatever issue he was working on. He was always a good person to have in the room." Layne, a Republican candidate for the District 2 seat, remembered a smart man with a warm personality. "People didn't realize how outgoing he was until they got to know him," she said. "Amazing sense of humor. He was a quiet powerhouse, but a powerhouse. In 1999, the state Sierra Club chapter gave Mr. McGarvey its Gopher Tortoise Award for his behind-the-scenes efforts. "Lynn's always been a voice, but there was always a force behind that voice," Layne said. Mr. McGarvey, an avid softball player, also taught computers to senior citizens at the University of South Florida and was a volunteer with the Tampa/Hillsborough Convention and Visitors Association, Mrs. McGarvey said. He was voted the organization's volunteer of the year in 1997. He had received treatment Thursday for a condition his wife would not specify. She said he seemed to be fine Thursday evening when she left to speak at a candidate forum sponsored by the Lutz Civic Association. He stopped breathing about 2 a.m. She called 911 and attempted to revive him herself, but the efforts failed. Autopsy results showed Mr. McGarvey, a retired manager with IBM, had hypertensive heart disease. Although heart doctors gave him a clean bill of health, he still worried about his heart, largely because his father died at age 60, his wife said. He watched what he ate and until recently was a dedicated jogger. Mrs. McGarvey suspects her husband had a congenital condition. "He had slowed down a little bit so it's hard to know," she said. "He thought there was still a problem. He had trouble running." Mrs. McGarvey said she soon will decide whether to continue her campaign for the Democratic nomination against Tampa lawyer Michael Steinberg. "Things are really up in the air," she said. "It is such a shock." Mr. McGarvey is survived by three children, a daughter and two sons; two grandchildren and his 97-year-old mother. Funeral arrangements had not been set Friday. -- Josh Zimmer can be reached at 269-5314.
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