Francis B. "Bernie" Cavey, an insurance executive who landed at Normandy on D-Day during World War II, died of an aneurysm Monday at University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Medical Center in Bel Air. He was 91.
The son of Thomas J. Cavey, an insurance executive, and Margaret Cavey, a homemaker, Francis Bernard Cavey was born in Baltimore and raised on Fairmount Avenue.
After graduating from Polytechnic Institute in 1943, Mr. Cavey enlisted in the Army. While serving with the 29th Infantry Division, he landed in the initial wave at Normandy during the Allied invasion June 6, 1944.
After being discharged in 1945, he joined his father, who had established Thomas J. Cavey & Son Insurance Co. in South Baltimore in 1946. The firm later relocated to East Avenue in Highlandtown.
Mr. Cavey had not retired at his death.
"He started working at 5:30 a.m. and worked five days a week. He worked the Friday before his death," said Connie M. Short, a daughter-in-law who lives in Willards in Wicomico County.
While living in Hamilton, he was involved with the Boy Scouts at St. John United Methodist Church. He also taught Sunday school.
He was president for 13 years of the South Baltimore Kiwanis Club. He also managed and was later president of the Kiwanis Little League team.
Mr. Cavey was an active volunteer at Battle Monument School in Dundalk, which works with special-needs children. His grandson was a student there.
He was an avid Orioles fan.
Mr. Cavey and his wife of 63 years, the former Betty Lou Webster, were longtime residents of Bel Air. Mrs. Cavey died in 2010.
Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. today at the Schimunek Funeral Home, 610 W. MacPhail Road, Bel Air.
Mr. Cavey is survived by Ms. Short and his grandson. His son, Francis B. "Buzzy" Cavey Jr., died in 2012.
—Frederick N. Rasmussen