J.D. Cleveland, resident of Punta Gorda, Florida, passed from this world into the arms of his savior Jesus Christ on April 2, 2020. Jay, born in Hackleburg, Alabama, on February 28, 1928, was the last born and eighth child of Edward Carsewell Cleveland and Martha Magdalene (Cochran) Cleveland. He was preceded in death by his son, Kyle Edward Cleveland and is survived by his wife of 70 years, Joyce Juanita (Reed) Cleveland of Punta Gorda, Florida, his son, Anthony Jay Cleveland of Brighton, Michigan, five grandchildren and seven great grandchildren.
As a young man, Jay traveled to Nashville, Tennessee to attend business school, where he met “Nita” Reed, the love of his life. After serving his country in the United States Marine Corps, Jay attended Jones Business School in Jacksonville, Florida where he graduated with a B.B.S. in 1954. Jay and his young family then moved north to Michigan where he worked in the automotive industry. Jay also studied Industrial Psychology at the University of Toledo during the early 1960s.
Jay was an avid hunter and fisherman, who loved music and sports. He retired from the Westerville, Ohio school district after twenty years in maintenance supervision and moved to southwestern Florida. Jay loved to fish with his close friends and family in the waters of Charlotte Harbor.
He was a faithful member of the Port Charlotte Church of Christ.
Jay was a kind and loving man with a generous spirit … indeed, a friend to all who knew him. We will miss his corny jokes and his “pickin” a tune on the banjo (he played with Sonny James – the Southern Gentleman). What we will miss most is his smiling face and the ever-present twinkle in his eyes.
His body will be interred at Woodlawn Cemetery in Nashville, but Jay’s soul resides now in heaven.
COMPARTA UN OBITUARIO
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