Lawrence 'Larry' Garvey, co-founder of Radiofone, dies at 73
August 19, 2010 Times Picayune
Submitted by N.O.V.A.


************************************************
Copyright.  All rights reserved.
http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm
http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm
************************************************


Lawrence "Larry" Garvey, who helped his brother build the company Radiofone into a regional wireless
telecommunications power, died Monday from complications of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly known as
"Lou Gehrig's Disease." He was 73.

Mr. Garvey and his brother, James Donald Garvey, ventured into the telecommunications industry in 1958 when
they converted their parents' local doctor-calling business into the Radiofone paging service.

The Metairie-based company began offering cellular telephone service 27 years later, not long after the
service was demonstrated at the New Orleans World's Fair. As one of only two wireless service providers in
the metro area until 1994, it grew to serve 300,000 subscribers in 11 Southern states and generated annual
revenue of about $132 million.

"Everything Larry pursued ... he mastered," James Garvey said. "He demanded perfection of himself."

Regulatory changes and the dawn of digital technology eventually encouraged competitors from other parts of
the country to move into New Orleans, resulting in pressure on companies to offer more services on their
networks at cheaper prices.

Unlike the national networks, Radiofone could not spread operating costs over a wide base of customers. "It
costs us more to provide service," Mr. Garvey explained at the time.

The brothers in 2000 sold their cellular telephone business for $400 million to SBC Communications, which
then sold it to Alltel. Familiar Radiofone signs disappeared from local stores. The distinctive "reach for
Radiofone" commercial jingle vanished from the airwaves.

"My dad was really passionate about (the wireless industry)," said Lisa Garvey, his daughter. "He would have
liked to have kept it going until his last day."

Family members said Mr. Garvey gave much of his free time to charitable, civic and Catholic organizations,
most notably anti-abortion groups such as the Louisiana Right to Life Federation. The St. Aloysius High
School and Loyola University graduate served as a member of the boards of the Metropolitan Crime Commission,
City Park and the New Orleans Museum of Art. He was once president of the National Association of
Radiotelephone Systems, earning awards that lauded him as an entrepreneur, leader and pioneer.

Mr. Garvey also enjoyed mastering woodwork, according to relatives. He was especially proud of a Dutch-
style, mortise and tenon barn he erected on his Covington-area farm without the help of a single power tool.

"We used only mallets, chisels and handsaws," said Wade Courtney, a former Radiofone electronic technician
who helped build the barn.

Lisa Garvey said her father used his skills as a businessman and woodcraftsman to be close to his loved
ones. He shared his tools with his children and five grandchildren, and together they carved wood ducks. In
1977, he raised bees with Lisa and stored the honey they produced in jars.

That year they founded a company -- named L & L for "Larry and Lisa" -- and sold the honey from the back of
a pickup truck parked along Veterans Memorial Highway.

"It wasn't for money but just to have an activity with his kid," Lisa Garvey said. "He always took the time
to be a dad."

Mr. Garvey's Funeral Mass is scheduled today at 2 p.m. at Lake Lawn Funeral Home, 5100 Pontchartrain Blvd.
Survivors include his wife, Marla Redmann Garvey; two other children, Michael and Dana; and five other
siblings, Mary Frances Theriot, Dr. Thomas J. Garvey, retired Judge Richard Garvey, Dolores McDonald and
Loretta Whyte.