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Anthony "Tony" Daversa, Sr. of Gurley, Alabama passed away on Saturday, March 6th, 2021 at the age of 77. He has battled with cancer and other medical conditions the past 12 years and most recently, his fight with Covid over the last 3 months. His courage, tenanasity and fighting
spirit stayed strong until the end.

Tony was born April 7th, 1943 in Mount Vernon, New York to Dominick and Mary Daversa. As a child he was brought up Catholic and in a strong Italian-American family heritage. While watching movies like, "The Bronx Tale" and "Goodfellas" he would regale memories of growing up in the Italian burrough of the Bronx. He would tell stories of his mom's handmade macaroni hanging from the ceilings in their 3 room apartment, recalling actions of wiseguys on the block, the huge family Sunday Italian meals after mass, to playing stickball in the streets, and listening to his dad play the accordion. We all loved listening to him speak in his strong "bronx Italian" accent and soaking up all the family history from early days.

Tony was a veteran and served in the Marine Corps as a MP. He was a specialist and a world class marksman holding many awards for his perfect marksmanship. He was stationed in Key West, FL where he met the love of his life, Peggy. Originally, he lied to her about his age so he wouldn't miss his chance with her. But in the end, it worked out and they immediately married and started a family and lived on base in Key West. Peggy didn't find out his true age until a few years into their marriage.

Tony returned to Mount Vernon, New York with his young family where he became an expert Arborist and started his own business. He was an active member of the Italian-American Club. In 1984, Tony moved his family to his wife's hometown, Gurley, AL to be closer to her family. He became an active member of the Gurley Volunteer Fire Dept.. He then advanced and was employed as the Deputy Fire Marshall with Madison County. He became a well known Arson Investigator and inspector. In 1994, Tony was approached to take a position with a collaborative program with the ATF Arson Investigations division. He was assigned a canine named Caesar by the ATF. Caesar and Tony trained together in Arlington to become one of the south's first Accelerant Canine teams. Their district was the Southeastern United States. He was internationally certified and awarded treasury credentials for working with Ceasar. Together they solved numerous arson cases throughout the 1990's including the well known 37 Church Burnings across the southern states. Tony and Ceasar enjoyed educating and training other agencies and the public with accelerant canine demonstrations and how arson detection works. Toney trained countless new firefighters, created arson awareness and taught fire prevention in Madison County. He retired as a Deputy Fire Marshall and ATF Arson Investigator along with his K-9 partner Caesar July 2018 after 20 years of service.

Tony enjoyed cooking, eating seafood, Chinese food, fishing, traveling with his wife and family in his motor home. He was a devoted grandfather and he dearly loved traveling to watch his grandsons play baseball. He was a talented woodworker, and all around handyman, " do it yourselfer". Another hobby that he enjoyed was practicing his marksmanship. He respected his armed rights and was a carnivore of all things political and speaking his mind on what he thought was right, He cherished his Italian heritage and taught his grandchildren "famous" Italian slang. He was an expert at "busting peoples chops".

Tony was an active member of the local American Legion Post 237 and a devout Catholic. He was a parishioner of Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Huntsville and he enjoyed the quantiness of St. Mary of the Visitation Catholic Church in Huntsville as he attended mass occasionally there as well.

Tony is survived by his wife, Peggy, brother Dennis Daversa (Rose), 2 sons, Howard Dwayne Daversa, Johnny Daversa (Wendi), Daughter, Paula Vandiver (Jeff), 9 grandchildren, and 9 great grandchildren. Preceded in death by his parents, Dominick and Mary Daversa, son Anthony "Tiny" Daversa, Jr.

As dad always says, "Va Fangool Gitty Up"

Memorial Services will be held at Berryhill Funeral Home this Saturday, March 13th, 2021. Visitation will be from 12:00 pm to 2:00 pm. Funeral Services will follow directly after at 2:00 pm. Interment will take place at Gurley Cemetery with a military tribute.