CARTHAGE, NY —Â David E. West, 76, Carthage, died Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2020, at Upstate University Hospital in Syracuse.
Born April 26, 1944, in West Carthage, the son of the late Lester J. and Olive M. (Lanoue) West, he was a 1964 graduate of Carthage High School.
He enlisted in the United States Navy in December of 1964 and served until 1969, completing a tour of duty in Vietnam. He received the Purple Heart Medal as a result of hostile action in January 1968. He then served with the New Jersey National Guard from 1969 to 1999 on Fort Drum.
After retirement, David worked with his brother, John at Casa Blanca on Cherry Island in Alexandria Bay as a groundskeeper.
He married Mary A. Brady on Nov. 3, 1974, at St. Rita’s Church in Deferiet. They were married for 45 years until Mary’s death on July 6, 2019.
David is survived by his two daughters, Rose West and Elizabeth Stevens and son-in-law, Sayre Stevens, all of Watertown; two grandchildren, Eleanor and Benjamin Stevens, Watertown; a brother, Joseph (Kathy) West, Carthage; two sisters, Mary Ashcroft, Indiana, and Alice (Jim) Egan, Fayetteville, NC; as well as numerous nieces and nephews and great nieces and nephews that were dear to him.
He was predeceased by two sisters, Norma Hague and Fayeanne West in childhood, and a brother, John West of Ogdensburg.
David was an avid gardener, maintained a beautiful lawn, grew beautiful roses and his vegetable garden was one out of a magazine. He was a generous neighbor, helping others in his kind ways of shoveling their sidewalks, driving them to church and sitting with them to keep them company. David enjoyed the outdoors, hunting, fishing and going to camp and the farm. He kept a lot of people in the north country warm with all the wood he cut and sold. David passed away with the ability to say he was 25 years sober and had a good life.
He was a member of St. James Church and served as an altar boy at St. Rita’s Church in Deferiet as a boy.
Funeral services will be held 11 a.m. Monday, Nov. 9, at St. James Catholic Church with Rev. Donald A. Robinson officiating. Burial with military honors will follow at St. James Cemetery. A calling hour will precede the service from 10 to 11 a.m. at the church.
Arrangements are with the Bezanilla-McGraw Funeral Home.
Memorial contributions may be made in David’s name to the ARC of Jefferson/St. Lawrence Co.
To leave an online condolence, go to www.bezanillafh.com.