What is your hometown, what brought you to the Emerald
Coast and how long have you been here?
As a military brat - my Father served 20 years in the USAF, moving
around a lot makes it tough to quantify a hometown. I was born in
Victorville, CA, at George AFB. The USAF took us to Biloxi, MS,
for about a year, then to Montauk Point, Long Island, New York.
From there we moved to Saranac Lake, New York, when my dad got
stationed at Plattsburgh AFB. When I was 9 my dad got hurt in SE
Asia and we ended up in Dayton, Ohio, at Wright Patterson AFB.
He retired there in 1967; we lived there for 5 years and then moved
to Brookville, Ohio, my sophomore year in HS. Brookville is the
closest thing to a hometown. My high school sweetheart, Pam, and I
got married there and that is where her family was from. I went into
the AF right after graduation and after tech school in Denver, CO,
was stationed at Eglin AFB in January 1975 and never left. It’s been
43 years now so this home as far as I am concerned.
What is your profession and what led you to choose this
profession?
Fisherman. I met a couple of deckhands working on Charter Boats
in Destin after fi shing on the local piers and beaches and discovered
I had a passion to saltwater fi sh. I started fi shing with Capt. WF
Davis and fi rst mate Tommy Green on the Anastasia as a second
job. That ended my military career plan. I wanted to fi sh for a living
and as soon as my enlistment was up in spring of 1978, I became a
full time professional fi sherman.
What do you like best about Destin and what makes it
unique?
For me, of course it was the fi shing. In fact, I don’t even like the
beach let alone want to sit or lay on it. Saltwater ran in my blood
and I spent two thirds of my adult life at sea in the Gulf of Mexico.
What makes this place so special is the combination of our beautiful
natural resources, the Destin Harbor, and the heritage of one of the
last working waterfronts left in our country created by the largest
charter and commercial fi shing fl eets in North America.
Favorite Things you like about Destin.
The sights, smell, noise, and excitement of the Destin Harbor. It’s
where I became a man, built a business, raised my sons, shared the
glory, suffering, and challenges of being a professional fi sherman
with my wife. I love the bay, the east pass, the glorious sunsets and
sunrises that you can only see if you live in a coastal community.
Give us three words that best describe you.
Husband, Father, Fisherman
I AM DESTIN because…
It’s the air I breath, it’s the core of my soul, I have faithfully carried
on the tradition and heritage of our fi shing community by paying
my dues, not taking any short cuts, created success with more brawn
than brain, tenacity and toughness. I hope my commitment to
professional excellence and my involvement in my community for
the past 43 years has lived up to the legacy left behind by the great
captains and fi shermen and families who founded this Village.
I AM DESTIN
Gary Jarvis
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9/26/18 5:39 PM