Harvey Oakes Sargeant

Harvey Oakes Sargeant, 98, died at his home in Boise on August 4, 2022. He spent his final days surrounded by family and friends. Born July 5, 1924 in Saint Paul, MN and raised in White Bear Lake, MN he was the older son of Harvey Oakes Sargeant, Sr. and Helen Kuhlo Sargeant.

Harvey graduated from White Bear Lake High School in 1942 and enrolled at Texas A & M University that fall. During his junior year of college, in the spring of 1944, Harvey was drafted into the U.S. Army as an infantry replacement. He served with an anti-tank platoon in the First Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment of the First Infantry Division during WWII. His platoon was instrumental in the Battle of the Bulge, the Battle of Remagen, combat in the Harz Mountains, and liberation of the Mittelbau-Dora concentration camp. After the war, he served in the occupation of Germany through the spring of 1946.

Harvey reentered Texas A & M in the fall of 1946 and graduated in 1948 with a degree in petroleum engineering. He cherished his Aggie ring and was a diehard Aggie the rest of his life.

After graduating from college, Harvey spent the next 38 years working for Gulf Oil, Exxon, and Mobil Oil in a number of countries. From 1948 to 1954, he worked for Gulf Oil near Lake Maracaibo, Venezuela. During that time, he married Jeanine Hickman (later divorced) and they had three children. In 1954, Gulf Oil relocated him to Ardmore, OK but after three years, Harvey accepted a position with Exxon and returned to Venezuela. He lived there another eleven years, from 1957 to 1968.

In 1967, Harvey met Sylvia Moran, who was a teacher in San Tome, Venezuela where they both lived. They were married later that year on the island of Barbados. In 1968, Harvey joined Mobil Oil, he and Sylvia relocated to Tripoli, Libya, and their daughter was born. They spent the next six years in Tripoli followed by four years in Lagos, Nigeria. In 1978, they moved to Indonesia and Harvey continued to work for Mobil Oil for seven years in Medan, North Sumatra and in Jakarta.

During their 17 years in Africa and Southeast Asia, Harvey and Sylvia traveled extensively and had myriad memorable adventures, including safaris in east Africa, cruises through the Greek islands and Norwegian fjords, and many vacations on Bali.

In 1985, Mobil Oil relocated Harvey to Denver, CO where he worked for another year before retiring in 1986. After he retired, Harvey and Sylvia moved to Boise and he was an active volunteer with Disaster Services for the American Red Cross, SCORE Business Mentoring, and the local PGA tournament. He was mobilized on numerous Red Cross disaster assignments, responding to hurricanes, earthquakes, and floods from California to Puerto Rico. Harvey was also a lifetime member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and a charter member of the National WWII Museum.

Although they repatriated in 1985, Harvey and Sylvia continued to travel internationally for many years after his retirement, visiting Canada, Mexico, Brazil, the Caribbean, and returning to Indonesia. Harvey was also an avid golfer and played weekly for most of his adult life. A member of Crane Creek Country Club in Boise, where he shot a hole in one in 1991, he played until he became blind from macular degeneration in the early 2000’s.

In later years, Harvey enjoyed listening to audiobooks and hearing Yankees baseball games on television. Harvey grew up listening to Yankees games on the radio with his father and was a lifelong fan.

Harvey is survived by his wife of 54 years, Sylvia Sargeant, daughters Risa Sargeant Moriarity (Jack) and Jennifer Petrie Vaaler, sons Charles Sargeant (Jewels) and Jeffrey Sargeant, granddaughters Lindsay Moriarity and Lara Moriarity, grandsons Luke 'Sargeant' Moriarity and Kyle Vaaler, sisters-in-law Patti Walters (George) and Janet Williams (Bill), and nephew Eric Williams (Melissa). He was preceded in death by his parents, brother Edward Sargeant, and niece Andrea Williams.

The family requests that, in lieu of flowers, memorials be made to the public library that provided Harvey with audiobooks for 20 years after he lost his sight:

Victory Branch
Ada Community Library
10664 W. Victory Road
Boise, ID 83709
victorylibrary@adalib.org
208-362-0181

Private family services will be held for Harvey.