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MARTY CLEARJOHN B. "JAKE" LAVETTRE: 1921-2004 "Always a Marine," Jake Lavettre won the love of his wife and the admiration of his family and associates.
DAVIS ISLANDS - When a Marine named Jake Lavettre met a Navy woman named Mary Reilly during World War II, he fell instantly in love.
Problem was, she was engaged to someone else. She also couldn't stand Lavettre.
The fact she became Mrs. John B. Lavettre the next year is a tribute to pure determination.
"My dad was relentless. Today, they probably would call it stalking," joked Maureen Roeland, one of their daughters. "I'm lucky to be here."
Call it what you will, Mr. Lavettre's courtship of his future wife was a resounding success. The couple married on Sept. 23, 1945, in the closing days of the war.
They remained happily married until Mr. Lavettre's death from heart failure on June 10. He was 82. In addition to his wife and daughter, he is survived by two other daughters, Tampa artist Eileen Goldenberg and Jeanne Lavettre, the owner of Serendipity on Davis Islands, and two grandchildren.
The Lavettres' marriage got off to a difficult start. Military duties kept the newlyweds from having a honeymoon or even a wedding night.
"They got married in New Jersey, and they both had to go back to their bases that night," Roeland said. "My dad was stationed in Quantico and my mom was in D.C."
Both had joined the military at the start of the war, but marriage ended Mrs. Lavettre's naval career. In those days, Navy women weren't supposed to marry. She received special permission to do so under the condition that she leave the Navy as soon as the war ended.
It was a different story for Mr. Lavettre. He remained in the Marine Corps until 1973, on active duty until 1962. Later, he was active in the Marine Corps League, a service organization made up of former Marines. He served five years as president of the league's Angus R. Goss Detachment in Tampa.
"He was always a Marine," his daughter said. "He actually tried to sign up for the Persian Gulf War. Even then he was no spring chicken."
The Lavettres lived the typically nomadic life of a military family. They spent two years in Europe, where Mr. Lavettre was head of security for a U.S. embassy. Because it was a neutral country where Americans weren't supposed to have military personnel, he wore a suit instead of a uniform. The family is still not permitted to reveal the country.
After Mr. Lavettre retired from active duty, they moved to Tampa and settled on Davis Islands. Mr. Lavettre went into the insurance business, retiring from USAA before starting Independent Adjusting Services on Kennedy Boulevard.
Although he had definite ideas about what was right, Mr. Lavettre was always respectful of people who disagreed with him, Roeland said. He loved a good argument, but mostly for the gamesmanship, she said, and would never get angry or raise his voice. He treated a janitor and a general with the same respect, his daughter said.
Mr. and Mrs. Lavettre each underwent heart surgery several years ago. As a result, both became active volunteers with the Heart-to-Heart program at Tampa General Hospital, where they met with and counseled patients awaiting open-heart surgery.
One of those patients, Dock Green, surprised the daughters by offering to play Amazing Grace on the pan flute at his funeral.
It was an especially touching moment, his daughter said.
Another was a reading by his 12-year-old grandson, Alex Goldenberg, titled My Hero. It read, in part:
"He has always done the right thing, whether it's serving his country by being a Marine or volunteering at Tampa General and helping patients get through a rough time. He always has come to my basketball games when he can and he loves watching them. I believe a hero is anyone who loves as much as this man does. My hero is my grandfather, John Lavettre."