Posted by Newspaper Transcriber on Saturday, October 21, 2006 at 14:08:58 :

Bernard McCavitt

Bernard McCavitt, who lived in Half Moon Bay in the 1940s and was a business owner and active in real estate and property management here, died peacefully at his Redwood City home, surrounded by family, on Sept. 16, following a 17-month battle with cancer. He was 86.

Mr. McCavitt was born Dec. 30, 1919, in Defiance, Pa., the fifth of eight children of Appalachian coal miner James A. McCavitt and Annie LePors McCavitt, described as a stern matriarch who taught her children the value of education.

In 1938, following graduation from Broadtop High School, Mr. McCavitt joined the Civil Conservation Corps, and then attended the California State Teachers College in Pennsylvania.

After two years of college, he enlisted in the Navy. He attended flight school in Pensacola, Fla., received his naval aviator's commission and was stationed in the South Pacific. During World War II, he flew a PBM-5 Mariner seaplane in the battle of Saipan and others on the Palau, Marianas and Truk islands.

Following his honorable discharge, Mr. McCavitt continued in the naval reserve until retiring in 1982 as a lieutenant commander.

In the late 1940s, he lived in Half Moon Bay and completed a degree in industrial arts at San Jose State College. He then settled in Redwood City and worked for the San Mateo County planning department until retiring in 1988.

As a real estate broker, he worked in Half Moon Bay from the middle 1960s to late 1980s, according to his son, Tom McCavitt of Redwood City. After retirement, he stayed active in local real estate and property management. He owned the Twice as Nice warehouse near the Half Moon Bay Airport, managed apartment buildings and was an original co-owner of the Harbor View Inn, said his son.

"He had a strong work ethic," he said. "His most famous quote was, 'Just do the best you can.'

"He enjoyed family foremost," said his son. "He will be missed dearly."

A longtime parishioner of St. Pius Church in Redwood City, Mr. McCavitt was a man of faith. "Through his valiant battle with cancer, Bernie managed to maintain his dry wit and Irish sense of humor," said another son, Geoffrey McCavitt of Menlo Park.

Mr. McCavitt is survived by his wife of 59 years, Loretta, of Redwood City, his children and their spouses Colleen and Lawrence Hubbert of Moss Beach, Karen McCavitt of Menlo Park, Thomas and Concepcion McCavitt of Redwood City, Timothy and Annrika McCavitt of Sedona, Ariz., Gary and Silvia McCavitt of Menlo Park, Geoffrey and Janet McCavitt of Menlo Park and Mark and Lori McCavitt of Bend, Ore., and 12 grandchildren.

He is survived by brother James McCavitt of Los Altos, sisters Rita King and Patty Marx, both of Maryland, and nieces and nephews.

A funeral Mass celebrated Sept. 23 at St. Pius Church was well-attended by friends from throughout the United States and other countries, including people he had sponsored when they became American citizens. Mr. McCavitt had requested to be cremated, and his ashes were inurned at Holy Cross Cemetery in Menlo Park.

Half Moon Bay Review and Pescadero Pebble, Wednesday, September 27, 2006