Floyd Chivvis, family business owner and Lindenhurst resident, dies at 89

Floyd Chivvis was a pillar of the Lindenhurst community, having a deep-rooted love and pride for the place he called home, according to his family.

A known presence in town from the fire department to local businesses, Chivvis volunteered to help whenever he could, his family said. He died of natural causes on Jan. 1 at the age of 89.

Floyd G. Chivvis was born in Amityville on Feb. 16, 1935. He grew up in Lindenhurst and graduated from Lindenhurst High School in 1953. He entered the Army Reserves and was stationed in Virginia from 1954 to 1955. Chivvis married his wife, Evelyn, in 1963. The couple settled in his hometown and had a son, George.

"Lindenhurst was his hometown, that was his place. He and my mom were a great team and worked very hard to give me the best life," said his son, George Chivvis, 57, of Lindenhurst. "He was a great dad, and he loved his grandkids and great-grandkids. We loved going on family vacations together."

Chivvis started working for his grandfather at the age of 13. He later opened Chivvis Enterprises Inc., a Copiague-based family owned fabrication business, with his brother in 1969.

"He was a man's man who loved everyone and did everything he could to help people," said Chivvis' brother, Douglas Chivvis, of The Villages, Florida.

"He always liked working with his hands, and worked in the shop right up until the end," said Chivvis' son, who is the company's owner and president. "He wanted to be challenged and shied away from any recognition. He did things for the joy of doing it and helping people and not expecting any accolades."

As a 70-year active member of the Lindenhurst Fire Department and Breslau Engine Co. 1, Chivvis loved the camaraderie within the fire department, his son said. According to his son, Chivvis started a dive team for water rescues and became a certified diver, continuing to dive well into his 80s. After he retired from his business, he volunteered as an ambulance driver for five years.

Philip Santoli is a 50-year member of the Lindenhurst Fire Department and started working for Chivvis when he was 19. He remembered Chivvis as his "boss, mentor, and friend for more than 48 years."

"He was my best man when I married 30 years ago," said Santoli, of Lindenhurst. "I like to remember the many fire department parades he marched next to me, carrying an American flag in the color guard, with my father on the other side of him, joined by Floyd’s son, George, and his brother, Doug, all in the front row. His devotion and respect for the fire department, the Village of Lindenhurst, his business and his family were extraordinary."

George Chivvis said his father always taught him how to "be a good human being and give back to those who are less fortunate," especially when it came to paying it forward in the community.

"His civic projects were really important to him; he did the village's New Year's Eve ball, built fire trucks and a storage building for the firehouse, was always in the firehouse kitchen cooking for fundraisers ... anything the village needed project-wise he did," George said.

Chivvis enjoyed restoring old fire trucks and had a fondness for cats. He was also a longtime member of the Kiwanis Club of Lindenhurst, and a member of the New Mayor’s Beautification Society of Lindenhurst.

"He had hands of gold and was just brilliant," said Chivvis' daughter-in-law, Tracey Chivvis, of Lindenhurst. "He went by Pop and he had the most golden heart that I've ever met in my life, other than my dad."

"He was a good person. He was selfless, he gave back to his community, and he always had a smile on his face," added George Chivvis.

In addition to his son and brother, Chivvis is survived by seven grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. His wife, Evelyn, died in 2018.

A burial took place on Jan. 10, at Breslau Cemetery in Lindenhurst, and donations were made to the Mayor's Beautification Society in Chivvis' memory.