Shipmate Column - Class of 1963 May-June 2026

Shipmate Column
May-June 2026

CLASS OF 1963
Pres: VADM William A. Earner, Jr., 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.

I am saddened to begin this month's report with news of multiple deaths in our Class of 1963 family.

James J. Scanlon passed away on 8 January. Jim's widow, Nancy, can be contacted at 8237 Chalet Court, Millersville, MD 21108.

Steven H. Ferencie died on 9 March. We do not have contact information for his next of kin.

Clarence W. Seay passed away on 9 March. Bunky's widow, Margot, can be contacted at 24 Pendleton Place, Kingsport, TN 37664.

Lynn Jay Madison died on 17 March. Jay's widow, Kathy, can be contacted at 9588 Munson Highway, Milton, FL 32570.

David Greene's wife, Penny, passed away on 22 February. Dave can be contacted at 437 West Catherine Street, Somerset, PA 15501.

Toni Campbell, widow of our classmate Cletus Campbell, died on 22 November 2025. We do not have contact information for her next of kin.

Watt Miles sent some personal news and the details of an upcoming reunion for members of the 5th Company and other classmates.

Ben Redd and I are organizing a Fifth Company mini-reunion in Annapolis 3-6 June. The main purpose, other than just getting together, is to celebrate the 63rd anniversary of the graduation of the Class of 1963. We graduated on 5 June 1963 and will celebrate on Friday, 5 June 2026, probably at the Midshipmen Activity Center in Dahlgren Hall and, depending on number of celebrants, maybe at The Alley (the bar in the basement of the Naval Academy Club) starting at 5:30-ish, followed by dinner at the same place. Classmates in the area are welcome to join us -- the more the merrier. Just let me know soon (perrymiles@cox.net) if you will be participating. If undecided and we do not exceed capacity of The Alley, then latecomers can be accommodated until 28 May. Note also that access to the yard is currently restricted. Presumably it will be restored by June. But standby for further word. Max flexibility without going limp is called for.
Some personal news: Belatedly, Anne and I downsized several years ago. We left the house we had been in for 37 years for a co-op apartment in Norfolk, VA, that is half the size. This co-op is small -- only 20 units -- and is located right across the street from Granby High School, so those familiar with Norfolk know right where it is. The complex was built in 1963(!), and some classmates may have seen it going up. Fortunately, we are still close, maybe ten minutes, to our two children who live in Norfolk. Our other son lives in Richmond, about 90 minutes away. So many of our friends must get on a plane to visit children and grandchildren; we are blessed. Another resident here is Butch Meier ('68), a retired submariner (three commands - two boats and a sub squadron); we get together often for libations and maybe swap a sea story or two. The sub force is a lot like the Marine Corps -- small and tight. It is amazing how similar our sea stories are when stripped down to the key elements, and we never seem to run out of them. We probably occasionally repeat ourselves, of course, but at our age who cares?

Daryl Rabert tells us about a weekend reunion of roommates from long ago.

     The beginning of December brought four 15th Company First Class year roommates together for the first time since graduation. Ron Terwilliger hosted Ken Carlsen, Wayne McCreary, and me at his house on Ocean Reef, Key Largo, FL. Wayne flew in from Los Angeles, Ken from Denver, and me from St. Simons Island, GA. This was the first time Ken and Wayne had seen each other since graduation. We could not wait to catch up about the life of Wayne, our "lost" roommate for many years. With some cocktails in hand, we spent many hours catching up on each other's careers and lives since 1963. What a great reunion!
    The weekend was not spent only on land. The three Navy officers took this Marine Corps officer out to sea on Ron's beautiful 40-foot boat to show us around the Florida Keys. The boat was our water taxi to get to some of the great local seafood restaurants as well as checking crab traps for stone crabs.
    These two pictures show good memories from our time together. The first shows Ron seated and me, Wayne, and Ken standing. The second, a picture of Ron's boat taken by a drone, shows the boat captain, me, Ron, Ken, and Wayne.

15th Company roommates

Ready to explore the Florida Keys

    Ken, Wayne, and I want to thank Ron for being our gracious host and tour guide of Ocean Reef. God willing, we all agreed to make this reunion an annual meeting.

Thanks to Dave Byrnes for sending this brief note about traveling to see Army-Navy basketball.

Warmups at West Point

My son Michael, my grandson Ewan, and I met at West Point on 21 February. They drove down from Maine and I drove up from Maryland to join them for the Army-Navy men's and women's basketball games at Army's Cristl Arena.
At the beginning of the women's game a Navy player was fouled. When she made her first free throw. I reacted with a loud "Yeah!" I was surprised by the sudden silence in the gym, then the roar of the crowd after she missed the second free throw. All ended well as the Navy men won 81-63 and the women won 54-51. My grandson was impressed by all the spirit and friendly rivalry. We were disappointed that the photo of the three of us taken by another fan was too blurred to share with you.

Screen actor Nick Nerangis '63

Nick Nerangis phoned me in March to share this news about a milestone in his screen acting career.

This February I received the 2025 Actor Award (formerly the Screen Actors Guild Award) as Best Actor in the independent film category for my performance as a father with dementia in "The Wooden Bowl." The film was shown throughout the United States and is being prepared for International distribution this year.

Nick has been pursuing his interest in acting since childhood, performing in various stage and screen roles ranging from extra to lead actor. He received a bachelor's degree in stage acting in 2004 and over the course of his career has appeared in numerous stage presentations and some 20 films. I encourage you to view Nick's profile in the Internet Movie Database (IMDB.com) by clicking HERE. Included in his profile is a three-minute demo reel showing clips from some of his roles.
IMDB.com contains a wealth of information about films and television, actors, directors, and much more. It's a useful and entertaining ready reference; check it out.

4th Company February Zoom meeting

Members of the 4th Company enjoyed a Zoom meeting on 25 February. Shown in this photo, left to-right, top-to-bottom, are Harry Salmon, Mike Shelley, Lou Simpleman, Mike Blackledge, Dick Wyttenbach-Santos, Ron Saqui, Craig Barton, Doug Tozour, Jack Carroll, and Tom Meyer. Among our topics was the question of what we learned at the Academy beyond academics and what stuck with us.
The next day, Dick Wyttenbach-Santos offered this short list of things learned, noting that each has paid dividends through the following sixty years. See what you think. Would you add anything?

1. Think clearly under pressure. Plebe year forced decisions when tired, stressed, and under scrutiny.

2. Don't sweat the small stuff -- but execute it anyway. Details matter.

3. Time compression. Do many things in a short period without confusion. Study, drill, athletics, inspections. Later in life that translated into handling complex operational workloads without paralysis.

4. Maneuver within the system. Understand institutions. Who has authority and where decisions are made. How to move an issue forward without unnecessary friction.

5. Salute the uniform, not the man. Respect for office and chain of command.

6. Sleep discipline. Maximize rest when available. Function well when rest is limited.

7. Verification discipline. Never guess. If you don't know, say so. Then follow up.

8. Precision of language. Clarity of words reflects clarity of thought.
Dick said that none of this was accidental; it was formation of mind. Looking back, he said, the boat school was less about information and more about conditioning, judgment, composure, and responsibility under pressure.

Mike Blackledge sent this update about his ongoing work to record the final resting places and other information about our deceased classmates.

     I have just added another of our classmates to the Class of 1963 Virtual Cemetery. I have been maintaining this for our deceased classmates at findagrave.com for several years. You can view the collection by clicking HERE.
    Currently, 90 names are included, which is far short of the nearly four hundred classmates we have lost to date. If you know of a classmate who already has a Find A Grave memorial but is not in the '63 virtual cemetery, please tell me by email at Mike@Blackledge.com.
    You may notice a few individuals in our virtual cemetery who were not members of the Class of 1963. Most of these are parents or spouses of our classmates, but there is one unusual addition: Vasili Arkhipov, a Soviet naval officer. I encourage you to view his memorial to see why he should be remembered forever, especially by our Class, and indeed everyone still living who remembers the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Soviet submarine B-59, forced to surface by U.S. Naval forces near Cuba

Thanks to our classmates whose contributions made this such an interesting report. Please resolve to follow their example by sending me some news, and perhaps some photos.

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