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