Shipmate Column
May-June 2025
CLASS OF 1963
Pres: CAPT W. Spencer Johnson IV, USN (Ret.)
Sec'y: Michael H. Shelley
27 Cambridge DR, Brevard, NC 28712
h: 828-506-2201 e: nstar@citcom.net
Web site: http://www.usna63.org.
For any classmate you can go to the Classmates Page and enter his name to read his current biography if available.
This winter has been a quiet time for many of us, and '63 news has been sparse. I expect that activity levels will rise in the springtime, so please support this news exchange by telling me about your time with classmates and your other news.
We have recently lost a classmate and two '63 wives, as noted below. Be sure to visit the Last Call section of our web site to read their obituaries and other information about their lives and careers. Spouses' obituaries are posted with their husband's Last Call or Current Biography entry.
Karl M. Kozak, Sr., passed away on 20 January. He was predeceased by his wife, Marirose, in 2024. We do not have contact information for his next of kin.
Dick Wyttenbach-Santos' wife, Bernice, died on 16 February. Dick can be contacted at 13775 SW Scholls Ferry Road, Unit 209, Beaverton, OR 97008.
Ted Willandt's widow, Lorraine, passed away on 26 February. Their daughter, Carolyn Willandt, can be contacted at 4211 Harbour Island Drive, Jacksonville, FL 32225.
Bruce Webb reported on the interment of a classmate in Annapolis this February.
This is a photo from the Officers and Faculty Club reception after the USNA Chapel service and Columbarium internment of our classmate Col. Ralph Kimberlin , USAFR (Ret.).
The funeral was well attended and 17th Companymates Bob Harper and Bernie Conatser delivered eulogies during the service. It was followed by military honors and interment for both Ralph and his wife Jean in the USNA Columbarium.
The photo shows classmates and Ralph's children Lisa and Tony at the reception. Left to right are Bob Harper, Lisa Kimberlin, John Kelly, Jeff Miles, Bernie Conatser, Bruce Webb, Jerry Mulholland, Jerry Jordan, and Tony Kimberlin.
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After the Kimberlin services |
Ralph was a renowned and respected civilian experimental test pilot for several major aerospace companies and served for many years as a professor at the University of Tennessee Space Institute. He had a distinguished career in the military and civilian sectors.
Thanks, Bruce, for telling us about the observances in Ralph's honor and for sending a career appreciation article from the Florida Institute of Technology. The article and Ralph's lengthy obituary are posted in the Last Call section of our web site.
Chuck Maclin sent this report about an assembly of the 6th Company Florida contingent.
On Tuesday, 25 February, three members of the 6th Company (plus an honorary member from the 14th Company) gathered at the home of Tony DeSantis in Boynton Beach, FL. Hilda, Tony's wife, prepared an amazing meal for us. Tony assisted, of course, but his main responsibility was to provide the wine, which he did in exemplary form. The attendees included Tony and Hilda DeSantis who came over from Houston, Joe Fossella and his companion Margaret McDonald from Estero, Chuck and Marion Maclin from Jupiter, and from the 14th Company, Tony and Kathy Isger from West Palm Beach. Absent were Lew and Sue Lewis, from Fernandina Beach. The gathering has become an annual event, and we always have a wonderful time catching up with happenings over the past year and retelling sea stories which get better with time. Lew and Sue were sorely missed.
Here's a picture of our group. Pictured from left to right are Tony Isger, Chuck Maclin, Marion Maclin, Hilda DeSantis, Tony DeSantis, Joe Fossella, Margaret McDonald, and Kathy Isger.
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6th Company couples in Florida |
Our late classmate Lee Pekary was captain of the Navy tennis team. His widow, Pat, sent a note and a photo connecting their family with the 2025 team.
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Lee Pekary and tennis Coach Art Potter |
Our grandson Isaiah is Assistant Tennis Coach at the University of California Santa Cruz. He was in Southern California with his team in early March for competitions against several colleges. He texted me that Navy was practicing on Claremont's courts. Navy was set to play three California university teams. I texted back that he should introduce himself, tell Navy coaches Chris Garner and John Moreland that I said hello, and wish Navy well.
There was an amazing response! The Navy tennis team lined up for a photo with Isaiah. (He's on the lower bench in a dark blue jacket.) He sent me the photo and said, "Chris and John say "Hi." They were so kind! I never expected that Isaiah would run into Navy's team this week. I'm happy he experienced the goodness Lee loved at USNA!
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The 2025 Navy tennis team salutes the Pekary family |
I have accumulated many photos that were published in our class columns in Shipmate over the years. This month I bring you several from the 7 December 1977 quarterly luncheon for our Washington-area classmates at the Fort McNair Officers Club. Paul Tobin was the coordinator of the lunches but, along with Terry Abell, missed being photographed that day. Appearing in the six pictures are Don Abbey and Bob Harper; Charlie Minter and John Aucella; Bruce Webb and Bill Hughes; Jim Fontana and Wilson Harris; Mike Shelley, Kent Maxfield, Al Straupenieks; Denny Conley, Sandy Stoddard, Al Sherman.
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Abbey and Harper |
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Minter and Aucella |
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Webb and Hughes |
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Fontana and Harris |
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Shelley, Maxfield, Straupenieks |
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Conley, Stoddard, Sherman. |
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1963 Heavyweight crew competes in 1991 |
This photo of our varsity heavyweight crew classmates appeared in the July-August 1991 issue of Shipmate. They were in Annapolis and Washington, DC, for training and a race against five alumni crews from eastern universities. Craig Thrasher sent a full and entertaining report which was published in our class column. You can see the text and photos near the end of the Pride and Tradition page on our web site by clicking HERE. I am sure you will enjoy them.
Pictured front and center in the image is Paul Quinn '47, who was Navy's crew coach 1961-68 and coached the 1991 alumni crew. Kneeling behind him are Craig Thrasher and Dick Omohundro. Standing are Dick Jones, Jim Fontana, Hugh Schall, Larry Graham, Dave Konold, Mike Pero, and Ted Krohne.
Do you remember the "yellow peril" biplanes that were based across the Severn from the Academy and used for aviation familiarization? Designated as N3N's and sometimes known as Canarys, those in the Annapolis detachment were the last operational N3N's. They were retired from service in 1959, and we never had a chance to enjoy flights in them as previous classes did. This note from Jim Metcalfe focuses on the aircraft and an aviation museum where a yellow peril is still flying.
When I arrived at VS-32 in 1965 to fly S2F's and later S2E's, I met the Navy metalsmith responsible for discovering the ubiquitous corrosion in the entire fleet of N3N's at USNA. I remember watching them being barged away to an aircraft boneyard. As a kid growing up in Annapolis and seeing the N3N's taking off and landing on the Severn River -- and sometimes flying under the Route50 high bridge -- I had always hoped to do the same. We were all just too late for such fun!
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N3N at the aviation museum in Virginia Beach |
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N3N with floats installed |
The N3N's were manufactured at the Philadelphia Navy Yard from 1935-42 in the Navy's only aircraft factory. A versatile trainer, the plane's wheels could be removed and replaced by floats. A flyable N3N is in the collection of the Military Aviation Museum in the Pungo area of Virginia Beach. The museum (https://www.militaryaviationmuseum.org) has probably the biggest collection in one place in the USA of flyable WWII aircraft and flyable Great War (WWI) replicas. Included is a replica of the Curtiss-made pusher aircraft that Eugene Ely flew off a cruiser in Hampton Roads in 1911 and later landed aboard another cruiser in San Diego in 1912. Those landings were the beginning of fixed wing Naval carrier aviation. I have been a docent at the museum since 2011 when I retired from the U.S. Attorney's Office in Norfolk.
That's all for this month. Please take a few minutes soon to send me an email about your recent activities; a photo or two will be most welcome. We need your participation to keep this news exchange full and lively. Thanks!
