Carlton Earl Haviland Obituary (1934 - 2023)

Carlton Earl Haviland passed away on Tuesday April 4th at 11:44pm at the VA hospital in Reno Nevada of heart failure from an earlier heart attack. He was 88 years old. He is survived by: 4 children (or offspring as he would say, a long standing family joke) 1 step son, 5 grandchildren, 4 step grandchildren and 6 great grandchildren (who called Dad…GG for great grandpa). Ok let’s break this down I will attach a graph and spreadsheet so you can keep it all straight. He had four wives, two of which were the mothers of his children (Annette and Linda). Children: ‘Bo’ Carlton E. Haviland III ( Wife Terri), ‘Sue’ Danielle Haviland (Husband Steve), Mark A. Haviland, Angie Haviland. Grandchildren: Keith Bennett, Niki Myers (Partner James), Travis Harris (Wife Ashely), Ryan Knox (Wife Staci), Chaunttele Murphy. Great Grandchildren: Lillia 11, Kaia 5, Chandler 5, Walker 4, Layla 4 1/2, Obi 7 as well as Brittin 16 and Brynlee 14. In addition step son Curtis Higgins and his two children Becky and Christopher. And last but. not least his two favorite nephews Tommy Smith (wife Anna Marie) and Eric Haviland (wife Penny). That is it… I cannot name all remaining living family members, we’d be here all day. Family was very important to Carl and filled his life with a lot of love and joy. Carl was born in 1934 in Winnemucca, Nevada between the Great Depression and World War II and the youngest of six siblings all of which influenced his entire life in many ways. He and his siblings were 4th generation Nevaden. His father Harold Haviland who was the Postmaster and mother Olive Guthrie Haviland was a prominent figure in the community throughout her whole life in Northern Nevada. He was accepted to The Naval Academy in 1953, being the first from Winnemucca, Nevada to be appointed. The first ship he was assigned to was the Missouri, the big battleship that the treaty to end WW2 was signed. There were a thousand crew members. Once he graduated in 1957 from the Naval Academy he was sent to serve on the huge aircraft carrier the Shangri-La as a navigation officer. Going to the north and south poles a couple times on an ice breaker called Atka (AGB-3) was his favorite time in the navy by far. The brotherhood, commeratroy and friendships he had in the service lasted his whole life. He stayed in contact with his shipmates for 6 decades. These are only a few of his proudest moments. Once out of the military he went back to school and got his master degree in journalism at UNR in Reno and began working at The Nevada State Journal. Then spent decades after that in what I call entrepreneurial real estate development. Carl was a dreamer, a visionary, a risk taker. He was always going for the big opportunity. Making deals, collaborating and inventing projects and creating businesses left and right. He had many successes and many failures. The one thing he never did was give up. He would fall down and get back up and create the next thing. Our father wasn’t the easiest man to be raised by to say the least, but all of us had a chance to witness him grow up…so to speak. The ambition and ego melted slowly over the years. To watch him soften and become more emotionally available and expressive. Which is a huge feat for a man of his generation and background. It created more opportunities to connect and be intimate. The family did its best to gather and make memories together. The last 25 years of his life were spent out in Doyle California with his partner Cheryl of 30+ years. Where they turned a plot of desert and sagebrush into an oasis. Lush with trees, bushes, fruit trees, a huge garden and flowers everywhere. It was the place we all called home and where we gathered as a family. He was also an avid animal lover his whole life. This time in his life he had many dogs, two goats (Thelma and Louise) and a cat named pepper. This quote sums it up, “You can judge a man’s true character by the way he treats his fellow animals.” I mean he would feed all the dogs at the dinner table with his fork. They were family. I feel these were the days he found peace both external and internal. The things we will miss most are: laughing with him…we laughed A LOT!!!, playing cards, watching football and did I say laugh…he got so much joy in making all of us laugh. It was part of his magic. He will be missed, He is loved and he will be remembered. Please do not send flowers instead donate in Carls name to either: Nevada Veterans Foundation or SPCA of Northern Nevada Services will be held at Northern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery April 28, 2023 @ 10am 14 Veterans Way, Fernely Nv With a celebration of life party afterwards from 12:30PM to 5pm at 4529 Madison Road Fernley, NV hosted by the family.