CLASS OF 1948 SHIPMATE COLUMN
MAY-JUNE - 2015

As promised, here is the May-June birthday data.  The Class will celebrate thirty-eight of them.  H.E. Rennacker 11th Co. will join the 92 year olds.  Eight more will reach 91.  Seventeen will be 90 and twelve will be 89.   I hope all of you are “functional”, taking and enjoying each day you are granted.  My records tell me that there are 259 of us still around and I find that rather amazing considering what many of us did for a living.  Keep up the good work folks.

John Fry  21st Co. has reminded me that this year’s Homecoming  Dinner will, as usual, be at Ginger Cove on October 23.  He would really like to see a good ’48 turnout and suggests since many of us now choose not to drive at night that we invite a family member or friends who do still feel comfortable driving after dark to come and enjoy the gathering.  John, Tony and Ginger Cove put on a good party so I strongly recommend it.  John’s email was dated Mar. 11th and he said “we’re back from several months at Hilton Head, with no fun driving through freezing rain Sunday a week ago.”  Scribe’s note: John, I’m glad we still have Classmates able to accomplish a long drive, even in good weather.

An email from Helen Orr says,

“Thanks for the info on the USS G.R. FORD.  I forwarded it to my daughters to keep them “aware of Navy stuff.”  Found it especially interesting as when Wylie and I were first married in 1952 a carrier, USS F.D. ROOSEVELT CVA-42 (MIDWAY CLASS) was his ship assignment after doing an 18 month stint in the USS MOCKINGBIRD (minesweeper) in Japan and Korea.  Small to large!  So the big carrier was my introduction to Navy life.  That was followed by ComCruDiv 6 with Admirals Stout and Arleigh Burke on board the USS MACON CA132.  Ooh, so long ago!

Doing fine now a year later without the mid-lobe of my right lung.  After a drive up to Portland for a month where I will see my youngest grandsons (twins) perform in “Annie Jr.” in May and graduate from 8th grade in June, I’ll return to Arizona for a knee replacement at Mayo which was on the docket previous to the cancer found in my lung.  Hoping that will do the trick to return to my youth and not walk like an old lady—tho I am one!”

  Scribe’s note: in replacing a knee, Helen, you will be joining a lot of Classmates/wives.

Unlike my last column when we were lucky to have only lost two Classmates, this time we’ve have lost nine Classmates and five wives:
          Classmates:
                   7th Co.  Fallon, J.W.                   4/10/15  */#
                   3rd Co. Fleming, E.B.                 4/3/15
                   12th Co. Goodwin, G.E.             4/2/15
                   7TH Co. Kuhn, F.X.                   3/7/15
                   23rd Co. Laubendorfer, W.J.       2/8/15 #
                   14th Co. Lawler, P.D.                 1/7/15 #
                   19th Co. O’Reilly, R.W.              3/4/15
                   15th Co. Simon, W.E.                 3/26/15
                   21st Co. Vernon, T.E.                 9/20/14
* bio in 50 year book.  # bio in 30 year book

          Wives:
                   Goodwin, Francis                      4/10/15
I will give you just a small excerpt from Fran’s obit.  She was one of two women graduates in a class of 100 at George Washington University Law School.  After George retired they lived in Dallas for more than 30 years, during which she resumed her pioneering career, completing her Masters coursework in Criminology at Sam Houston state University; served as an assistant district attorney; and, at the urging of federal judge Sarah T. Hughes, was the first woman to be appointed as municipal judge for the City of Dallas.
                  
                  Lang, Florence                           11/1/11
                             (no obit or other info)
                  
                    Martenson, Carolyn                 2/13/15
Carol devoted herself to a host of philanthropic causes throughout her life.  She was a member of the All Hallows Guild of the Washington National Cathedral of over 30 years.  She chaired the Build’s largest fundraiser, the Flower Mart, several times, each time with increasing success.  Carol was also a long-time supporter of Goodwill Industries and chaired their annual book sale several times.  Carol also chaired the Embassy Tours, another Goodwill industries fundraiser.

                   Spirson, Jacque                          3/17/15
When Spiro retired they settled in Meridian, MS, where Jacque was actively involved in the Meridian Little Theatre.  In 1955 she was picked for the lead role in the Top Pictures production, “Frontier Woman, Davy Crocket’s Daughter, under the screen name of Cindy Carson.  The movie was shown on Broadway, throughout the United States and Japan.  She completed her bachelor’s degree at Mississippi University for women and her master’s at Southern Mississippi University to become a licensed mental health counselor.  Nineteen years after Spiro’s death she
 married James C. Ford.
                  
                    Van Metre, Charlotte               4/11/15
Charlotte helped Al build Van Metre Companies and shared in his love of sailing and flying.  They had two children, a boy and a girl.  They divorced in 1969.

Scribe’s note: Our numbers grow smaller and we shall miss all who have “crossed the bar.”

     Another picture, this one from Judy Flood.  Judy reports that Frank Boushee 8th Co. met Judy and Bob Flood 18th Co at a USNA alumni function in Jacksonville, FL.  Frank’s niece, Celia Davis, joined them as they listened to Admiral Robert Natter, Board of Trustees Chair, discuss the future of the Academy.  All were in agreement, Go Navy!

I have lifted one short paragraph from a letter from Paul Riley 13th Co. because Betty and I have recently done the “big dig” thing and it is no fun.  Paul writes, our 40-year old house needed a new sewer line, which led to our version of Boston’s “Big Dig”.  Dirt contaminated the pool.  Bad pool store advice resulted in overdosing with algaecide.  Cure required about 50 pounds of chlorine and multiple backwashes.  The heater then developed a leak and had to be replaced.  But we survived and swam until Nov. 10th.

Scribe’s note:  Betty and I don’t have a pool so we escaped that evolution; however, the “dig” took a lot of the root system of a large silver maple in our front yard so we are watching that tree very carefully.  We also had to put down new sod for most of the front yard.

Earlier this year Phil Rogers 9th Co. told me about attending a Forrestal Lecture (one of the perks of living in Annapolis) and I asked him to send me his reaction.)  He sent me the following.  I believe I sent it to all the Class email addresses but I’m not certain and the message is important enough to include it in this column even if just for those who don’t do computers.

The Class of 1948 has been a major contributor to the benefit of the U. S. Navy and the Naval Academy for many years.  We were honored by having classmates serve as the Chief of Naval Operations, Tom Hayward 21st Co., and Deputy Chief, Bill Small 1st Co.  We have fought the good fight and been able to maintain the existence of our beloved class memorial within the pedestrian entrance to the Visitors Gate.

In 2003 we added one more star by presenting the Academy a two million dollar Information Technology Endowment.  Since that presentation the impact on the curriculum of the Academy has undergone major changes.  The first effect was the establishment of a major in Science and Information Technology (SIT) several years ago.  We now have an annual award of $1,000 presented, at graduation, to the midshipman who stands the highest in that discipline.  The SIT major represents 37% of the total credits required for graduation.  In addition, it is now possible for a midshipman to acquire a double major one in Computer Science and one in Information Technology.  To give you a further example of the importance of SIT, midshipmen must take at least one Restricted Electives and two Unrestricted Electives in addition to the core SIT curriculum.

Today the Academy is undergoing another major change.  The field of cyber warfare has given reason to develop a curriculum in Cyber Operations.  The planning and work to establish a degree in this discipline will probably establish a major in 2017.  The number of credit hours in CO will be about 35% of the total required for graduation.  This development is a natural spin-off from SIT and is one more example of the impact the Class of 1948 has had in the Yard.

Many members of ’48 are still making plans for some size of legacy gift.  Giving a part of the legacy to our IT endowment might be a good idea.  Our contributions so far have certainly made a noteworthy impact.  In addition to the above, it is important to note that our efforts have allowed the Academy to establish the Distinguished Visiting Professor Chair filled by Dr. Raymond Greenlaw.  He lectures large and small groups of midshipmen when he comes to Annapolis.

As a side note, I was fortunate to attend a Forrestal Lecture several months ago when the CNO, Admiral Jonathan Greenert, addressed the midshipmen in Alumni Hall.  He gave a very inspiring talk.  He gave considerable attention to the subjects of Information Technology and Cyber Operations and emphasized they were fields in which every naval officer and marine must have a certain degree of expertise and that they will be core subjects in the education of midshipmen beginning with the Class of 2019.

Well Done ‘48

For information the Class endowment fund # is 824800