CWO4 Newman Lavoyne (Slim) Cantrell
This is from the
State Port Pilot. My father was a great man and one who loved the Coast Guard. I have tried my
best to take after him. We will miss him greatly.Chief warrant officer (USCG-ret.) Newman Lavoyne
(Slim) Cantrell, 64, of Beaufort died Friday, May 13, 2005, at Carteret General Hospital, Morehead
City, after several years of declining health. He was born in LaGrange, Ga., a son of the late Sam
Newman and Mary Stone Cantrell. He was a member of Franklin Masonic Lodge 109 and VFW Post 2401,
both in Beaufort.He served in the U. S. Coast Guard for over 27 years. His first assignment was
Coast Guard Base Fort Macon, followed by Station Swansboro and Station Hobucken. He was stationed
aboard the Diamond Shoal Lightship, followed by service with the boating safety detachment at Fort
Macon. He then served one year in Vietnam aboard the Coast Guard cutter Ingram. After returning
from Vietnam, he was stationed aboard the cutter Chilula at Fort Macon, then was transferred to
the U. S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn., where he taught boating safety.In 1974 he
received his first command, the cutter Point Franklin at Cape May, N. J. He was then assigned to
Station Cape Lookout, where he was the officer-in-charge and promoted to chief warrant officer. He
was then assigned to Coast Guard headquarters in Washington in the office of search and rescue. He
returned to Beaufort, where he reported aboard the cutter Conifer as first lieutenant, followed by
an assignment at Group Fort Macon as operations officer. He retired in 1986. His last official
duty was the swearing-in of his son in 1987.Funeral services were held Monday at Ann Street United
Methodist Church with the Rev. Dr. John M. Check and the Rev. J. Rusty Willis officiating. Burial
followed at Carteret Memorial Gardens.Survivors include his wife, Jane R. Cantrell; sons, David
Allen Cantrell and wife Liz of Beaufort, senior chief Newman Lavoyne (Bob Bon) Cantrell Jr. and
wife Christine of Boiling Spring Lakes; daughters, Jo Cantrell Rosser and husband John of Bristol,
Va., and Amy Elizabeth Cantrell of Beaufort; brother, James O’Neal Cantrell and wife Danette of
Savannah, Tenn.; sister, Mary Edith Watkins of Newnan, Ga.; sister-in-law, Joanne Cantrell of
Grantville, Ga.; five granddaughters, Crystal Dawn Cantrell, Leah Christine Rosser, Ashley
Elizabeth Cantrell, Leslie Allen Cantrell and Kaylie Lavoyne Cantrell. He was preceded in death by
his parents, Sam Newman and Mary Stone Cantrell, and
brother, William Cantrell, of Grantville, Ga.Memorial donations may be made to the American Lung
Association of North Carolina, P. O. Box 27985, Raleigh, NC 27611 or Ann Street Handbell Choir,
417 Ann Street, Beaufort, NC 28516.Arrangements by Brooks Funeral Home and Crematory, Morehead
City.
05/31/05 Submitted by: BMCS Newman Lavoyne (Bon) Cantrell
