Harry Gaventa

GAVENTA, Harry Reymer, 81, a native of Tampa, died May 18, 2005, in Atlanta, Ga. Survivors include daughters, Deborah Brown, and Suzanne Folger and his son-in-law, Gray Folger, of Atlanta; brother and sisters-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence Gaventa of Kingwood, Texas, and Mrs. William Gaventa of Richmond, Va.; four grandchildren, and cousins, nieces and nephews. A 1941 graduate of Hillsborough High School, Reymer served in the U.S. Army in Northern France from 1943-45. He was married to high school sweetheart Betty Anne Smith (Gaventa), also of Tampa, from 1945 until her death in 2003. He graduated magna cum laude from Stetson University in DeLand and completed graduate work at Peabody College in Nashville, Tenn. He held teaching and administrative positions in Hillsborough County public schools for 19 years and earned a Ph.D. in elementary education at Florida State University. He was a professor in the Burton College of Education at McNeese State University in Lake Charles, La., from 1974-19 96. Dr. Gaventa was an advocate for quality education and had a passion for gardening and travel. Contributions in his memory can be made to Seminole Heights Baptist Church, 801 East Hillsborough Ave., Tampa, FL 33604, for tutoring through Mission Tampa.