Pierce Leavitt, the father of former USF coach Jim Leavitt and a St. Petersburg resident since 1966, died Tuesday morning at age 93 due to congestive heart failure.
Mr. Leavitt, born in 1922 in Sioux Falls, S.D., moved to St. Petersburg with his family after retiring from the Air Force, where he reached the rank of major, flying as a pilot in the South Pacific during World War II. He and his wife Lois were married 67 years, and he is survived by his four children -- Randy, Diana, Rusty and Jim -- as well as 14 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.