Craig Valentine Garvey II

Craig Valentine Garvey was born on December 29, 1993 in Fort Pierce Florida. He was the first born child of Karen and Craig Garvey, two young Jamaicans who were both excited and terrified to be new parents. Craig was a very adaptive, enthusiastic, curious, and intelligent baby who started walking at seven months and speaking fluently before age one. He was such a bubbly baby, his parents would take him on long drives for him to wind down and fall asleep. At the age of two, Craig was introduced to his little sister, Kelsey Beverly Garvey, who caused him some embarrassment when she learned how to talk. She was very attached to her brother and intended to let the world know by introducing him to everyone with great enthusiasm and a key ill-pronounced word. “Hi, I’m Kelsey, and this is Craig, my BREAST FRIEND,” she’d say. Craig and Kelsey developed an inseparable bond and journeyed together in the backyard bird watching and trying to befriend stray cats. From a young age Craig had a passion for researching animals through magazines, National Geographic documentaries, as well as his favorite game at the time, Animal 2.0. His fascination for animals lead him to start a collection of National Geographic Animal Encyclopedia pages. Among these were the Blue-Footed Booby, the Grizzly bear, and the Cheetah, his favorite. His favorite places to go at the time were the Bronx Zoo, Central Park, NY, and The Museum of Natural History, the place in which he harnessed his love for dinosaurs. At age ten, the Garvey family moved to Virginia where Craig went to Parkside Elementary, Gayle Middle, Battlefield Middle, and Chancellor High School. In middle school he joined the track team with the motivation of his father and favorite animal, and pushed himself to do his best at all times. Running track made him feel happy and free. During his freshman year, Craig was diagnosed with grade four Osteosarcoma in his knee. This eliminated all hopes of him being able to run in the future. Despite this sudden set-back, he continued to smile everyday and warm the hearts of strangers, friends, and loved ones as well as found new hobbies his body could handle. Things such as extreme yo-yoing, horseback riding, hanging out with friends, canoeing, art, gaming, and paintball became Craig’s new outlets. Throughout Craig’s battle with cancer, he fought long and hard. Not only for himself, but also for those around him, by smiling and keeping a positive attitude. He was a strong and selfless person who knew exactly what he wanted to do in life before most students would. He wanted to become a pilot for the U.S Air Force or an Engineer, get married, have children, live in Japan, and love everyone no matter how hard it was.

Craig Valentine Garvey II

December 29, 1993 - April 23, 2013