From the Great Depression to 100: The Remarkable Life of George Davenport

FERNANDINA BEACH - George Davenport, who turns 100 today, has carried a saying on his desk by the author Ring Lardner for most of his life: “The years skip along easily; it’s the days that are tough.”

As far as tough days, he’ll tell you, “I could fill a book with them,” but he believes you make your own luck. He says he’s always been fortunate.

The only child of George H. and Ethel Davenport, the family moved often from New York to Miami to Newark. On one trip, in the midst of the Depression, about 1930, all the family’s possessions were taken off the running board of their car when they went inside to secure a hotel.

“Those were tough times, and that was a tough day,” George said.

Another tough day was when the family’s house burned when he was five.

“I remember my mom waking me, dressing me in my best clothes in what must have been two minutes flat and then us watching from the street,” George said, adding that his father would often earn money for groceries by hustling pool.

George at about five. His wife Charlotte kids that he still has the hat.

At 9, the family settled in Irvington, New Jersey. George, who loves Christmas, remembers one holiday soon after that.

“My father asked me if I’d rather have a toolbox with some nice tools or a pair of new ice skates. I knew what my father wanted to hear, so I said ‘a new toolbox, of course.’ Well, under the tree that year was a toolbox and new skates,” George said.

The Navy and World War II

At 17, George enlisted in the Navy during World War II. As a Coxswain, a Bosun’s Mate, he served in the North Atlantic and Mediterranean, first on a Light Cruiser and then a Heavy Cruiser. On night watches with his friend Gordon “Gittie” White, George developed his exceptional memory through reciting long poems.

George can still recite stories and poems. His desk is filled with histories, sports books, especially baseball, and poetry.

One night, as an enlisted man, he was asked by an officer to bring some tea to the bridge. He realized there was a difference between the haves and have nots.

“I made up my mind then and there that I was going to be a have,” George said.

To College and Marriage

After the Navy, George started spending more time with Frances Grippaldi, and he used the GI Bill to attend Seton Hall University, graduating with a business degree in 1949, completing the four-year program in 26 months.

In 1950, he married Frances. “Gittie,” traveled from Wyoming to be best man. In 1952, Rick was born, followed by Bobby and Kathy.

“The days the kids were born were some of the happiest days of my life,” he said.

The Davenports moved from Schenectady, New York, to Jacksonville in 1966. In 1973, George and his father set up their own business in Jacksonville, The Traveler, selling mildew-resistant shower curtains. Always the entrepreneur, George and Fran took a trip to Hawaii and the Hilton Hawaiian Village (Hilton’s largest property at the time), and George called the head of housekeeping there. Soon thereafter, Hilton was his largest customer.

The business grew, with as many as 20 employees, and George stayed active into his 80s. Like others, the business was challenged by COVID, and the family sold.

Amelia Island

George and Fran, who was vibrant and gregarious, moved to Amelia Island in the late 1980s, first settling on the south end and eventually moving to Osprey Village. In January of 2013, after 63 happy years of marriage, Fran died.

After Fran’s passing, George was walking one night when two Boykin Spaniels — Daisy and Lillie — came along. They brought their owner, Charlotte.

“He kept asking if the dogs wanted to come in. Eventually, he asked me, too,” Charlotte said.

In 2014, at the age of 88, George had another tough day when he broke his hip. Determined, he rehabbed so well his doctor skipped a scheduled hip replacement.

Charlotte suggested his recovery was motivated by him looking ahead.

“He was courting,” she smiled. Charlotte and George were married in 2015 on George’s 89th birthday.

They lived at Osprey Village until 2019, when they moved to Amelia Park, where Charlotte had wanted to live for years. She first thought they may need to rent the home.

“I didn’t know if he’d like it, but he loves it,” Charlotte said.

On summer days you might find them on their front porch entertaining neighbors, George’s one daily vodka martini close at hand.

Always gracious, George might share his love for poetry or the New York Yankees and how the teams of the late 1940s and early 1950s, when he frequented Yankee Stadium, were the best to play.

Another great love is Dixieland jazz.

Often in New Orleans, he frequented Preservation Hall, one time flying a 6-piece band into Jacksonville for a birthday party for Fran and his father.

“It was a great time. All the neighbors and many others came. It made the papers.” George said.

What Matters?

When asked about what matters in life, George doesn’t hesitate: “Love. Love of God, love of country and love of family.”

Part of the Greatest Generation, George knows he’s fortunate to reach 100. Out of the 16.4 million Americans to serve in World War II, only about 45,000 remain.

George, always fit and doing his age in pushups until recently, said they will take the future as it comes.

“I think turning 100 has been George’s goal the past few years,” Charlotte said. “Now that we’re there, we’ll have to reset the goal.”

George and Charlotte Davenport in their home.

Recently retired from Marketing Communications and Nonprofit Development, Mark Metzler returned to his first career as a journalist for this story. He lives on Amelia Island.