Biloxi icon Victor Mavar Sr. remembered as the ‘George Washington’ of the MS GOP party
One of Biloxi’s most respected and accomplished men, Victor Mavar Sr. has died and will be remembered during funeral services Wednesday.
Mavar died in his sleep at his Biloxi home Saturday. He was 96.
Visitation is from 10 a.m. to noon Wednesday, Sept. 7, at Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Cathedral on Howard Ave. in Biloxi. A Mass of Christian Burial will be at noon.
He is remembered as a kind man, a Biloxi businessman, a devout Catholic and a founder of the Mississippi Republican Party on the Coast.
“His life experience is what I value,” said Biloxi Mayor Andrew “FoFo” Gilich, who grew up with Mavar’s children, nieces and nephews.
“He had a tremendous intellect and each conversation was a treasure,” said Gilich, who called Mavar “The George Washington of the Republican party of Mississippi.”
From Croatia to the Mississippi Coast
Mavar was born in Biloxi in 1926 and was the youngest of six children of John Mavar Sr. and Olivia Skrmetta Mavar, who were immigrants from an area of Austria/Hungary now known as Croatia.
His father took a job as a fireman on a New York-bound steamship and eventually worked his way to New Orleans and then the Coast, according to a 1998 Sun Herald article when Victor was King D’Iberville for the Gulf Coast Carnival Association.
His father worked his way up from captain to become a a boat owner. He and Olivia married and the year Victor was born they founded the Mavar Shrimp & Oyster Co. on the shores of Biloxi, where Harrah’s Gulf Coast now stands.
Their four sons vastly grew the business.
“The family became known not so much for monetary wealth as for the prosperity of a well-run business that could survive such disasters as Hurricane Camille,” according to the 1998 article.
“The old seafood industry was based on shrimp and oysters and picturesque fleets of smaller wooden boats,’‘ Mavar told the Sun Herald. “Because of environmental problems, the oysters began disappearing in the middle 1950s, and by the time of Camille in 1969 there weren’t enough to run a cannery properly, so the industry was left with only one item — shrimp.”
“The local boats weren’t able to produce enough to keep the factories going, so to become profitable, they began processing imported shrimp, too,” Mavar said. “The boats became bigger and made of steel. As a result, the industry is more profitable than it has ever been.’‘
History rooted in Biloxi
The list of Mavar’s accomplishments are many, and he excelled right from the start.
His first job when he was in elementary school, he liked to tell, was he learned how to paint the names on the hulls of the shrimp boats, said his son Mark Mavar.
He graduated from Biloxi High School in 1943, where he was drum major of the school band and won the State of Mississippi Drum Major Baton Twirling Championship
He was appointed to the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, where he earned a degree in marine engineering. As drum major there, he led the band in performances in the Macy’s Day Parade, the Armed Forces Day Parade, Yankee Stadium, Radio City Music Hall, Yale University, the U.S. Naval Academy, U.S. Military Academy at West Point.
He earned a license to serve as an engineering officer aboard any size ship anywhere in the world, his family said.
He returned to Biloxi to work in the family business and was elected president of the American Shrimp Processors Association.
He and his brothers started manufacturing and marketing Kozy Kitten cat food on the bay in Biloxi. They sold the business to H.J. Heinz Company.
Living with excellence
He was “the best” father, said two of his six children, Geoffrey and Mark Mavar, and would praise their accomplishments and also let them know when their efforts weren’t up to par — “both with the same enthusiasm.”
As immigrants, Victor’s parents stressed the importance of education, and that was something he passed on to his children.
“Your education is the one thing no one can eve take away from you,” he would tell them.
He also was politically active. “He was a conservative in his beliefs,” said his son Geoffrey, but would tell people, “If you don’t like something, don’t just sit and complain. Get involved and go change it.”
In 2010, Gov. Haley Barbour presented Mavar and six others with the Mississippi Medal of Service for “significant contributions to the state through their personal and professional lives.”
Mavar was active in many community organizations and served as a director of Hancock Whitney Bank.
“Victor Mavar was an icon of lifetime community and business leadership,” said John Hairston, president and CEO. “His invaluable service and astute insights as a Hancock Whitney director helped guide our organization through more than a quarter-century of extraordinary growth while retaining focus on our roots and values.”
Mavar was someone he admired as a young man, Hairston said, “and the admiration grew in the 30 years I’ve known him. Many people profess to be driven by faith, family and country above all. Victor lived those beliefs with his every breath. When our family learned of our youngest daughter’s terminal illness, Victor checked on us consistently through her entire illness, reminding us upon her loss that ‘we would be apart for only a moment.’ He relished giving to others in every way, far more than any material benefits for himself.”
Mavar was a wealthy man shared his blessings and bounty. He and his wife, Gayle, set up scholarships at several colleges.
They also established a fund to support the operation of the Learning Disability Department at Nativity B.V.M. Elementary School in Biloxi and provided for the construction of two classrooms for the learning disabled.
At age 96, “A lot of his friends had already passed,” said his son, Mark. “His best friend is still living and that was my mother,” he said. They were married for 64 years, lost their house in Katrina and rebuilt in Biloxi.
This story was originally published September 6, 2022 at 1:53 PM.
