Alfred J. Havel of Hampton Bays died on September 8 at Peconic Bay Medical Center in Riverhead. He was 84.
Mr. Havel was born in Manhattan to Joseph and Frances Havel on October 27, 1931. He attended PS 78 and PS 35 in Queens and graduated from Machine and Metal Trade High School in Manhattan in 1949. As a teenager, he began his career as a commercial fisherman starting on Jamaica Bay and continuing for more than 65 years. While working the bay, he met a young girl named Jane Nugent, who would become his wife on June 21, 1958. In 1951, he bought his first lobster boat, starting his life of fishing the ocean.
He served in the Army and was assigned to Special Forces from 1954 to 1955 as an explosive ordinance disposal specialist. He was stationed in New Mexico and grew to love the desert; at the time he said “if I wasn’t a fisherman, this is where I would live.”
He and his wife moved to Hampton Bays in 1958. The following year his parents moved to Hampton Bays after his father, Joseph, sold his Manhattan business and went to work for Mr. Havel for the remainder of his life.
Mr. Havel was multi-talented and enjoyed woodworking, machining, building the “Janie” and other boats, and had a passion for taking on innovative and challenging projects when not fishing.
Survivors said that always at the center of his life were his home where he and his wife raised their three children, survived multiple remodeling projects, provided space for work and his impressive array of tools, and raised a few dogs. More importantly, it was there that he and his wife gave both family and friends a warm welcoming place for friendship, a cup of coffee, dessert and maybe even some lobster.
Mr. Havel was predeceased by his wife, Jane; and his parents, Joseph and Frances. He is survived by a brother, Joseph Havel; a daughter, Jane Havel; two sons, Alfred and Timothy; and two granddaughters, Morgan and Abbey Havel.
Funeral arrangements were under the direction of the J. Ronald Scott Funeral Home in Hampton Bays. A funeral took place on September 13 at the funeral home with Pastor Kent Terchunian of Hampton Bays United Methodist Church officiating. Burial followed at Good Ground Cemetery.
Memorial donations may be made to the COPD Foundation, copdfoundation.org.
on Sep 12, 2016