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Upper St. Clair ‘ultimate Marine’ dies at 74

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The Nov. 10 Veterans Day observance in Upper St. Clair was full of accolades for local resident Thomas Joseph McGarvey.

Three days later, the man whom fellow Vietnam War veteran Tony Accamando Jr. called “the ultimate Marine” died at 74.

Mr. McGarvey served as president of the board of directors of Upper St. Clair Veterans Park Inc., the nonprofit organization that saw the project to fruition that he and Navy veteran William Babcock envisioned. A plaque with their names at the top stands among the monuments to all branches of the U.S. military in the park, where the Veterans Day observance is held each year.

At the 2016 ceremony, he served as featured speaker and helped unveil a new statue at the park.

Mr. McGarvey also spearheaded efforts to construct a Vietnam Veterans Monument in Pittsburgh. It was dedicated Nov. 11, 1987, along the banks of the Ohio near Three Rivers Stadium.

Surviving Mr. McGarvey, whom everyone called “T.J.,” are his wife of 48 years, Jean Fiori McGarvey; two daughters, Kathleen McGarvey and Maureen Shaw, both of Upper St. Clair; two sons, Timothy of Upper St. Clair and Conor of Moon Township; and three grandchildren.

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