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Michael Thomas Gavala

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U.S. Army veteran

Michael Thomas Gavala, 71, of Brownsville, passed away Friday, January 24, 2014, in Donnell House, Washington.

He was born June 14, 1942, in Brownsville, a son of the late Michael T. Gavala and Ethel DeForty Gavala.

Mr. Gavala attended New Salem Presbyterian Church and was a member of Brownsville Young Men’s Club. He was a Vietnam veteran who served with the U.S. Army. He was an employee of American Red Ball, a moving and storage company. During his more than 43 years of over-the-road driving, he received two Driver of the Year awards and many other long-haul driving awards.

Surviving are his wife of 17 years, Doris Maronde Gavala; a daughter, Tracey Brown and her husband, David, of Woodbridge, Va.; a granddaughter, Heather Brown; a grandson, Jeffery Kozbial; a great-granddaughter, Ava Brown; a great-grandson, Anthony Majewski; two brothers and three sisters, John Gavala and Paul Gavala, both of Brownsville, Mary Ann Fulton and her husband, Paul, Shirley Klink and her husband, William, and Linda Rogers, all of Niles, Ohio.

A memorial service will be held at 3 p.m. Sunday, February 2, in New Salem Presbyterian Church, New Salem, with the Rev. Norma P. Murphy officiating.

Memorial contributions may be made to the New Salem Presbyterian Church Food Bank, P.O. Box 455, New Salem, PA 15468, or the Leukemia and Lymphoma Foundation, P.O. Box 4072, Pittsfield, MA 01202.

Mr. Gavala’s family shared the following quote: “I have fought a good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”

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