Posted by Michael Gavin on June 9, 2013:

Birth: Jul. 28, 1924 Oil City Venango County Pennsylvania, USA Death: Feb. 8, 2010 Ranson Jefferson County West Virginia, USA William G. "Bill" Gavin of Happy Retreat, Charles Town, age 85, died at Jefferson Memorial Hospital, Ranson, on Monday, Feb. 8, 2010. He was born July 28, 1924, in Oil City, Pa., son of the late Leon H. Gavin and Susan G. (Gilfillan) Gavin. He was a descendent on maternal side of some of the earliest pioneer settlers of western Pennsylvania, circa 1800. He was raised in Oil City and graduated from Oil City High School in 1942, and entered the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1943 and graduated in 1946. After graduation, he served as an Officer in the U.S. Army (Regular Army) until 1953, serving four years in Germany during his service. He was a member of the U.S. Army (Ready) Reserve from 1954 until 1961. After leaving the Regular Army, he entered the electronics business as a marketing manager with Bell and Howell Company, and later, the Xerox Corp. In 1975, he became a partner in the Cliffside Inn, Harpers Ferry, and then became owner of the Cliffside in 1984. He was an avid historian of the American Civil War and published four books pertaining to that war plus several magazine articles. He was well known in Civil War collector and historical circles and built a large Civil War library and artifact collection beginning at an early age in the 1930s. Mr. Gavin was a member of St. James Catholic Church in Charles Town where he served as usher and later as a lector. He was a member of the American Legion, The Society of 40 & 8, VFW, Sons of Confederate Veterans, Military Order of the Loyal Legion, Association of Graduates of the U.S. Military Academy, Company of Military Historians and the American Society of Arms Collectors. He served on the Library Board Charles Town and on the Jefferson County Development Authority. (Obit written by William G. Gavin)

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