Arthur J. Cave
Arthur J. Cave, 94, Brainerd, died Thursday, Jan. 2, 2003, at Woodland Good Samaritan Village in Brainerd.
He was born May 1, 1908, in London, England. He took a job as a page boy at the Strand Palace Hotel in London. He later worked as a dining room steward aboard the British ship "RMS Aquitania." In 1929, he was offered a management job at the McCurdy Hotel in Evansville, Ind. In 1937, he moved to Bismarck, N.D., as a manager of Patterson Hotel. In 1939, he took a job as a catering manager at Breezy Point Lodge and stayed there until it closed because of World War II. In 1943, he joined the Navy and went to Great Lakes, Ill., for training. He married Tillie Sperling on Nov. 27, 1943, in Great Lakes. He then was assigned duty as commissary steward on LST in the Pacific Fleet. His ship took part in three invasions during the war. He was discharged from the Navy in 1945 at Bremerton, Wash. They moved to Brainerd where he worked for Akre's Cafe. After one year, he bought the cafe and named it Cave's Restaurant. In 1960, they sold the restaurant and purchased Elsie's Flower Shop, which became Cave's House of Flowers. In 1975, they sold the flower shop and retired. He later worked for Schaefer's Hearse Service. He fully retired in 1994. He was a member of Aurora Masonic Lodge No. 100, Aadzuhman Shrine Club, Shrine Oriental Band, VFW., American Legion and First Lutheran Church. He was a former member of the Moose Lodge.
Survivors include his wife; a son, David Cave, Baxter; and two grandchildren.
Four brothers died earlier.
Services will be 1 p.m. Saturday at First Lutheran Church in Brainerd with the Rev. Linda Roal officiating. Burial will be in Evergreen Cemetery. Military honors will be provided by American Legion Post No. 255.
Friends may call from 5-8 p.m. today with a Masonic service at 7 p.m. at Nelson-Doran Funeral Home in Brainerd and an hour before services Saturday at the church.