The world lost a beautiful smile on August 20, 2019, when our beloved husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, Calvin Adolph Vees, was called home to God after a brief but valiant fight with lung cancer.
Papa Calvin, as he was known by many, was born on December 11, 1931, in Hackensack, New Jersey, to Adolph and Anna Vees. From high school, he entered the U.S. Navy, where he served in Operation Blue Jay during his time aboard the USS Deuel and earned the National Defense Service Medal and the Navy Occupation Service Medal before he was honorably discharged on December 20, 1955. Following his military service, Calvin attended California Polytechnic State University.
Calvin was working for Bellow’s TV and Appliances in Orlando, Florida, when fate led him to a blind date with Eleanor Tanner. Ellie had waited her whole life for a knight on a white horse, and Calvin was just that. They married September 12, 1980, and were inseparable for 39 years. Strangers often commented on the way that Calvin tended to Ellie and how he made sure her every need and wish was fulfilled. They made it look easy.
Calvin retired from his post as President and COO of Jacksonville’s Transcor, Inc. and the military transportation support industry in 2004 after 24 years. He and Ellie were able to travel the world together, but he was also happy to be at home doting on Ellie and the little dogs they adored, Bonnie and Caroline, out for a meal that would surely end with ice cream, or with their Sunday School classmates from Deermeadows Baptist Church.
Between the two of them, Calvin and Ellie created an expansive family, and yet he made sure every member felt important and loved. He was there for births and birthdays, recitals and graduations, Christmases and Easters, with seemingly boundless energy and interest.
He is survived by his wife, Ellie; sons, Gregory A. and Paul R. Vees (Lisa); and stepdaughters, Johnnie Breed and Nancy Slater (Jim). He leaves 12 grandchildren: Michael and Terry Cordell (Lori), Allison Slater Tate (Trey), Scott Slater (Stacy), Christin Couick (Noah), Kayla Dawkins (Tony), Paul R. Vees, Jr. (Morgan), and Brandon, Cortnie, and Bailey Vees, Kaitlyn Siddons (Trae), and Gregory A. Vees, Jr. He will also be remembered with love by his many great-grandchildren: Izzac and Casey Cordell, Morgan, Gabriel, Addison, and Ellie Jane Slater, Mason, Charlie, Ben, and Lucy Tate, Kendall Vees, Anthony and Kian Dawkins, Eliana Couick, and Hallie Vees.
How lucky we were to have a Papa Calvin who never made us feel like a burden or an imposition and was always proud of us, no matter what. He has left an empty chair that can never be filled. We will miss him forever.
A Visitation will be held Monday, August 26, 2019, from 10 – 11 am, immediately followed by a Funeral Service at 11 am at Ponte Vedra Valley, 4750 Palm Valley Road, Ponte Vedra Beach, FL.
