It is with deepest sorrow that I report the passing our classmate and great friend David Carruth on 16 November 2018. His son Steven sent me the following:

 "Dad passed peacefully with his wife of 72 years, Betty Marie Euler by his side. He was a wonderful and loved man. He was a credit to the Academy, the United States of America and our lovely planet. All of his surviving family members are with Betty and appreciating everything he taught us."

Condolences may sent to Betty at 9619 Burke Lake Road, Apt. 131; Burke, VA 22015.

Charlie Mertz, Warren Graham and I have been trying to fill the tremendous void caused by Dave’s absence from his position as the class Shipmate editor due to his illness and subsequent passing. Dave had been the Shipmate editor since August 2007.  In addition Dave maintained the In-Memoriam lists and the email directory which I would post on the class website.  I have assumed the latter functions and in addition since August have been sending out emails of time sensitive events.  With Charlie’s help I will continue to submit news items to Shipmate.  I wish I had Dave’s great writing skills.

Received the following in September from Goodie and Chuck Braley 13th Co.:

“Hi John,
Thank you for your update re. Dave Carruth. (Chuck Braley and his wife, Goodie have always enjoyed each of his messages and the pieces in Shipmates!) One bit of news- Charley and Jean Mertz and their son, Rob stopped for a "picnic supper" at the Braley's villa in Greensboro, NC last weekend.  Charley was Chuck's Best Man in our wedding at the Academy 70 years ago!
The four of us had a grand time talking about all of the many trips we have taken together before they headed back home to Virginia!
Please relay our Best wishes to Dave.
Goodie and Chuck Braley”

Received the following from Bob McClinton 11th Co. on 13 Nov:

“Howdy,
Jim Hoye just sent this grand shot to me:  INTREPID leading the 2017 Reach for Hospice on Sequim Bay.  The Blue and Gold (Go Navy!) spinnaker was flown previously in my Pearson 36 WEIGH TO GO.  
And in other news:  The yacht club raised $30,000 for Volunteer Hospice in the 2018 Reach and Row for Hospice (15 September 2018).  Of that, nine boats raised $20,770.50, $6,430 of which was raised by our Team AMERICA.  (Gunvor and I sold INTREPID this spring.)

Happy Thanksgiving!
Bob/Dad   /etc.”

Received the following from Paul Riley 13th Co.:

“Dear John: Neither Ty Dedman nor I know how to submit stuff for our column but we don't want to see it empty any more. So with Dave now gone, we'll try you with the following:
As designated scribe and the other half of Ty Dedman's mini-70th class reunion, I, Paul Riley, will describe the event.  In early fall, Ty called me with an invitation to visit and to attend the Navy-Central Florida football game on Veterans Day weekend in Orlando. Confidently, Evelyn and I acquired non-refundable and uninsured airline tickets. We took flu shots and waited, enjoying October, the best Houston month.

Five days before departure, I came down with fever, chills, an upset digestive system, and total weakness. This was two days before Election Day but we had already voted early. Using my newly acquired cane, I staggered to the airport. As the saying goes, the malady did linger on. Ty and Bettye met us at MCO to get us to Lake Mary, Bettye's original home town and site of their 1953 wedding in which I had the honor of being Ty's best man (and tactician to avoid a planned shivaree).

The next day, we took the heavy rail interurban train to Winter Park to visit the art museum which displays the full scale reconstructed Tiffany chapel built for the 1893 Columbian Exhibition and much more. We then had dinner at the Bosporus Turkish restaurant and returned to Lake Mary by rail. On game day, key members of Ty's family arranged VIP parking and early entrance to our seats high in the Navy section. As you know, our team was behind 21-3 in the first half but rallied in the second to lose by only 11. We met many USNA alumni, the most significant a group from 1975 led by the son of our late classmate, Tom O'Connor. He saw these two active ancient aviators sitting there with canes and thought we might be about 1948 vintage. We obliged.

The last full day began with church and then a road tour of the area including the old Sanford Naval Air Station. This is now an Orlando reliever airport (SFB). The Navy is memorialized by a pedestal mounted North American Aviation A3J (or A-5 if you're a McNamara fan), a project that Ty Dedman had much to do with. Our excellent little reunion concluded on Monday with return of the Rileys to Houston and the first taste of winter.”         

Since the last column I have received word of the loss of seven Classmates and two Wives.

Classmates:
Robert Bonnell, Jr., 11th  Co.        10/25/18
Thomas O’Connor, 19th Co.         09/03/18
William Carpenter, 20th Co.          11/06/18
Meyer Rose, 22nd Co.                   11/11/18
Robert Nottingham, 19th Co.         08/20/18
David Carruth, 9th Co.                   11/16/18
Robert Ennis, 7th Co.                            ?

Wives:
Betty Ricker (Wife of Robert Ricker)           07/17/18
Margaret Duncan (Wife of Peter Duncan)    05/25/18

On a brighter note my friend Jean and I flew from our homes in San Diego to Boston for a 7-day Caravan Tour of all the New England states to enjoy the autumn colors and to view some historic sites.  We were able to spend three days before the tour on Cape Cod where we visited my old home town of Falmouth and the rest of the Cape.  After the tour we visited Annapolis for three days.  The highlights of that visit included the Sunday morning service at the Chapel and a visit to John McCain’s grave site to pay our respects. In addition we walked through some of the Yard visiting Bancroft, Dahlgren and Preble Halls.  Seeing all the new building additions that were made since we graduated was a complete shock.

By the time you receive this copy of Shipmate you will have celebrated the Thanksgiving and the end of the year Holidays that we knew by other names.  So, in view of the lag between column submission date and your receipt of Shipmate I send you belated Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Holidays greetings.

And don’t forget to send us any news that you would like to share with your Classmates and friends.