Wilbur W. “Sonny” Jarvis, Jr., 90, formerly of St. Joseph, passed away Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023, at his home in Paw Paw.
Funeral Services & burial were held 2 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 23, 2023, at B’nai Sholom Cemetery, Crystal Avenue, Benton Harbor, with Diane Yampolsky officiating. Military Rites were conducted by the North Berrien Military Rites Team.
Memorial donations in Sonny’s name may be made to Temple B’nai Shalom in Benton Harbor or Baby Henning Love’s Go Fund Me. https://gofund.me/1ea7629e
Those wishing to sign Sonny’s Memory Book online may do so at www.starks-menchinger.com.
Sonny was born Dec. 25, 1932, in Benton Harbor to Wilbur W. and Laura (Leady) Jarvis, Sr.
He graduated from Benton Harbor High School, Class of 1951 and earned an associate degree from Benton Harbor Jr. College. Sonny then served his country in the United States Army during the Korean War. Upon his discharge from the military, he earned his bachelor’s degree from Michigan Tech.
On June 12, 1962, he married the former Annette Radom in Chicago. Sonny gained employment with AC Sparkplug in Milwaukee before returning to the Twin Cities and joining Whirlpool
Corporation in the laundry group. During his employment, Sonny was responsible for 23 patents, before retiring after 30-plus years in 1996. After Annette’s passing, he married the former Nadine Nelson on Feb. 4, 2004, in South Haven. In 2019, he and Nadine opened Paw Paw Kayak Rentals in Paw Paw. Sonny was a member of Temple B’nai Shalom in Benton Harbor.
Sonny enjoyed fishing, boating, spending many weekends on the area lakes; Lake Michigan.
His most memorable trip was to Canada with nephew Mike Radom and uncle Nic Sax. He owned fishing boats, speed boats and pontoons. Sonny was a master mechanic and loved tooling around in his shop. He loved everything about cars including working on them. He was the go-to-guy for family and friends that needed a handy man job. Sonny was an avid reader, specifically sci-fi, his favorite author being Isaac Asimov.
Family and friends were a big part of Sonny’s life. He was fortunate to be able to enjoy family vacations to California to visit his sister Harriette, Disney World in Florida with his grandchildren Rachael Taylor, along with many other trips; family parties including the annual birthday parties for him on Christmas Day. This continued in retirement with his first wife Annette and for many years to follow with Nadine. Sonny loved his dogs starting with his first dog Brandy, Bandit, Topper and his current companion Murry Sonny is survived by his wife Nadine; his children, Ronald Jarvis of Fort Myers, FL, Darci Jarvis of St. Joseph, Rona (Harold) Goodrich of Paw Paw; his daughter-in-law Heather Busse of Illinois; six Grandchildren, Rachael Taylor Jarvis, Mariah Warner, Brandon Busse, Jacob Megan Goodrich; several nieces, nephews; and his faithful service dog Murry.
Sonny was preceded in death by his parents; his first wife, Annette, his son, William Busse, and his siblings, Betty Holmes, Harriette Dalziele and Theda Jarvis. Ninety years of a life well lived.