Robert Eugene "Butch" Mayes III
2008-01-05He was predeceased by his father and mother, Robert E. Mayes, Jr. and Ruth S. Mayes of Norfolk, VA.
He is survived by his loving wife, Janice Kendall Mayes; son, Robert Eugene Mayes IV of the home; daughters, Maya Girardin, Shanti Curran and Jami Fleury of Maine; a step-son, Michael Betor; a sister, Myrna Mayes Brockwell and brother-in-law, John of Williamsburg, VA; an aunt, Wilma S. Davis of Norfolk, VA; cousin, Philip R. Davis, Jr. and wife Mary; and four other cousins. He is also survived by father-in-law and mother-in-law, Scot and Thelma Kendall of Woodstock, ME; a sister-in-law and two brothers-in-law also of Maine; grandchildren, Liam and Shylah Curran, Micha Girardin and Jaycee Agrell; and many loving friends and business associates.
Bob was a graduate of Old Dominion University with a degree in Business Administration. He was General Manager and Accountant for Construction Supply and Equipment Co., Inc. of Chesapeake, VA, for the past 15 years. He was previously employed by Commonwealth Tractor Company of Norfolk and the City of Norfolk.
He and wife Jan were devoted to their dogs and were members of the Tidewater Dog Performance Club for several years while enjoying the sport of flyball. He also was a staunch supporter of Jan and her music at area venues and was their recording engineer. He organized and led men's NA/AA groups in Norfolk.
A visitation will be held at Hollomon-Brown Funeral Home, 8464 Tidewater Drive, Norfolk, VA on Thursday, January 10, 2008, from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. followed by a memorial service at 7:00 p.m.
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I have a rather strange remembrance of Butch which occurred shortly after I move to Norview in 1953.
One weekend while in elementary school, Butch knocked on the door at my home wanting to know if I wanted to come out and wrestle. I really didn’t know Butch, but I’d seen him at school, and knew that he lived about four streets away from my neighborhood. I never cared to box, my arms aren’t very long, but I loved to wrestle. My friends and I sometimes wrestled during recess at school. Somehow Butch discovered this, and he wanted to have a go at me.
I was always small for my age, but I was usually fearless, so I wrestled with him in my backyard that day. Fairly quickly I got him on the ground and in a head lock. He squirmed and tried to get free but to no avail. Well, soon this became boring, so I let him up and said goodbye. He wanted to wrestle some more, so he could win. I refused and went inside my house, besides I’d already won.
I really never got to know Butch since we had different interests and hung with different crowds. We spoke to each other in the halls at school, but we never wrestled again.