Norman Vincent Mclafferty's Obituary
Norman “Mac” McLafferty
Norman “Mac” McLafferty, of Ewa Beach, passed away on August 7, 2015 at the age of ninety-five. He was born in St. Louis, the ninth of ten children. He was stationed in Pearl Harbor when he met and married his Kapahulu hapa-haole sweetheart, Havana (Johnson) McLafferty. They were married for seventy-one years and he was a father to their 10 children. He lived in Hawaii for more than sixty-five years and retired from the U.S. Navy as a Chief Petty Officer. He was a veteran of three wars. After he retired, he embarked on several business endeavors.
Together, he and his family were stationed in Hawaii, lived abroad and in the mainland; together they loved travelling. Aunty Havana & Uncle Mac traveled to all but a dozen states and took numerous trips to various parts of the U.S., Mexico [three times] and Canada. Together they’ve traveled twice by plane, bus, train and car from Hawaii, across the continental U.S., and back again.
Uncle Mac, as he was known to many, was a family man and taught all ten of his children how to swim and hike and how to safely enjoy nature. Many of the neighborhood kids often piled into the family Ford Country Squire for Sunday adventures. Sunday was family day and he always took his kids to some new beach or hike in a different part of the island. He was active in the Catholic Church at Our Lady of Perpetual Help before moving to Kaaawa in 1972 where he and Havana were active in Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church in Waikane. He loved and lived for golf. When he wasn’t playing it, he was teaching it, when he wasn’t teaching it, he was watching it on the television.
He was lucky at the slots, and gave to many charitable organizations. He was an artist and donated three of his watercolor paintings to Tripler Hospital. He loved to sing, and once had a small part in the Metropolitan Opera when it was in St. Louis. His big thrill came at the age of 90 when he landed a speaking part in Peter Berg’s movie “Battleship” and an earlier part in the 1965 film, “In Harm’s Way.” Early on in his military career, in 1941, the fate of his life turned with the flip of a coin when a coin toss gave him shore duty while his buddy unfortunately got stationed on the U.S.S. Oklahoma. He had an active mind and imagination and there was no idea that was too great an obstacle.
He is preceded in death by his wife Havana Leinani (2014) his three sons, Michael, Dennis and Brian; and seven brothers, and one sister. He is survived by his three sons, Pat (Mary), Tim (Marge), and Dan (Sue); and four daughters, Norvana “Cissy” (Junior Tejada), Cindy (Smith Cobb-Adams), Maureen “Pua”, and Kathy (Larry Ice); 14 grandchildren and 8 great-grandchildren; and one brother, Paul McLafferty. Although he lived far from his family in St. Louis, Uncle Mac was very beloved in Hawaii by many friends and family.
Memorial services are on Tuesday, September 8, 2015 at Valley of the Temples Chapel, Kane’ohe (Ahuimanu.) Visitation at 10:30 a.m... Burial and military honors to follow.
Interment Location: Eternal Love #10, Lot 1427, A-2
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