Charles C. Fleet

Charles Carvel Fleet Charles Carvel Fleet, a resident of St. Pete Beach and member of a pioneer St. Petersburg family, passed away on June 5, 2009, at the age of 76, at the VA Medical Center. A St. Petersburg native, he was born on August 11, 1932, in Mount Park Hospital, now Bayfront Medical Center. Mr. Fleet was a 1950 graduate of St. Petersburg High School, where he was President of Student Government. He received a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville and attended the University of Oslo, Norway, for graduate studies. He was a veteran of the United States Army. Mr. Fleet began his career in the international oil and gas industry with Hunt Oil Company in Libya, North Africa, and with the Conoco Corporation in the United States. He founded and served as Managing Director of Corporate Acquisition Associates in San Francisco and La Jolla, California, and retired in 1997 as a Vice President at Geneva Corporate Finance, Inc., in the Feather Sound, Clearwater, office. His grandfather, C. A. Harvey, an early St. Petersburg real estate investor, is credited with developing and naming Bayboro Harbor. His father, Charles Carvel "Rox" Fleet, was a pilot in World War I, and managed hotels in St. Petersburg and New London, New Hampshire before his untimely death in 1941. His mother, Ruth Harvey Fleet, was a charter member of the St. Petersburg Junior League and continued in the hotel business after her husband's death. It is believed that his sisters, attorneys Lucille Fleet Ford and Ruth Fleet Thurman, were the first, and for many years the only, sisters actively practicing law in the state of Florida. He is survived by his family, including his loving companion and former wife, attorney Lydia Castle of St. Pete Beach, three beautiful daughters, Belinda Brooke Fleet of Las Vegas, Nevada, Carolyn Blythe Fleet and Sara Bliss Fleet, both of San Francisco, a grandson, Starbuck Fleet, Portland, Oregon, his sister, Professor Ruth Fleet Thurman of St. Petersburg, his stepson, David Castle of New York, and his beloved Golden Retriever, Bailey. Other survivors include his niece, Mary Ford Williams of Denver, Colorado, nephew Harvey A. Ford and his wife, Kathleen S. Ford, both of St. Petersburg, nephew James E. Thurman, and his wife, Gaelynn, also of St. Petersburg, and several great nieces and nephews. He was inordinately proud of their accomplishments. His sister, Lucille Fleet Ford, and brother-in-law, Halsey Ford, predeceased him, as did his much loved Golden Retriever and often-proclaimed best friend, Biscuit, who attended his 1994 wedding to Lydia Castle. Mr. Fleet was an inveterate sports fan and particularly enjoyed the San Diego Chargers and San Francisco 49ers. He delighted in visiting New Hampshire and Europe, where he made friends with all who met him and corresponded with them through many years. His family, friends and neighbors mourn his passing. At Mr. Fleet's request, interment of ashes will be private locally and at various places throughout the world chosen by Mr. Fleet, including Prague, the Aosta Valley in Italy, and Provence. In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial contributions to Golden Retriever Rescue of Mid-Florida, Inc., Longwood, Florida www.grmf.org.