Evan R. Lagrave

Colonie - Evan passed away March 5, 2019 at his home in Colonie. He was born to William and Eva LaGrave on August 29, 1920. He grew up in Piercefield, NY and later moved to Tupper Lake. After high school, he moved to Albany and worked at the A&P stocking shelves where he met his future wife Marjorie Bianchine. Margie and her girlfriends would visit the store and, according to him, she would purposely break the cellophane wrapping on the candy so they could get the bag for free, an accusation she vehemently denied. But, they fell in love and were married for 68 years until her death in 2012. Over the years, he worked as a traveling salesman, but he was well known in the area as a golf club repairman. After retiring from sales, he worked at Colonie Country Club in golf course maintenance. He then became a truck driver for South Colonie School District delivering student lunches, retiring from that job at 92.

He is survived by his children and their spouses (or the "intruders" as he was so fond of calling them) Donna (Charles) Schuster of Cherry Hill, NJ, Sue (Keith) Klapp of Colonie, Pam (Sal) Scaringe of Albany, and Annette (William) Nattress of Albany. He is also survived by his brother Donald LaGrave and sister Barbara Mariani, but predeceased by Delores LaGrave, Marguerite Dumas, Ruth Koonz and John LaGrave.

Bob, as he was known to his friends, loved playing golf especially with his children and dear friends, Bob and Art Gardy. He was first introduced to the sport as a young man caddying at Saranac Inn Golf Club and played throughout the country over the next 70+ years. He was fond of recounting how he played the number one golf course in the world, Pine Valley Golf Club in NJ.

He grew up in the Adirondacks and had a lifelong love of kayaking and fishing, doing so well into his 90's.

Dad described his service during WWII: "I went overseas to Guadalcanal as a private and went from private to sergeant in the first week. We were building airports and servicing airplanes. I contracted yellow jaundice and was sent to New Zealand to the hospital. From there I was sent to New Hebrides where we rebuilt airplanes to send them back into combat. They sent me to school in Norman, OK to learn about transport planes that I was to service and fly in. We flew up and down the West Coast and survived a crash in one of those planes in Santa Barbara. I was sent back overseas as a staff sergeant to Guam and at one time or another flew to all of the pacific islands as a flight engineer."

Because of dad's service, he received wonderful care at the VA. We are grateful to the Veteran's Administration Home Based Health Care Team, Community Hospice and especially Dr. Julie Phillips and Jodi for their loving care right up until the time of his death.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in Evan's name to the Adirondack Mountain Club, 814 Goggins Road, Lake George, NY, 12845.

A celebration of his life will be held on March 15, 2019 from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at Shaker Ridge Country Club, 802 Albany Shaker Road, Albany, NY 12211.