Shipmate Column - Class of 1963 November-December 2026

Shipmate Column
November-December 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.

It is sobering to begin this report with news of the deaths of five members of the Class of 1963 and two family members. Please take a few minutes to read their obituaries and other information in the Last Call section of our web site.

Charles D. Frazer died on 16 November 2023. His widow, Lorna, passed away on 29 January 2026. We do not have contact information for their next of kin.

Richard William Elsworth died on 30 July. We do not have contact information for his next of kin.

Michael J. Dunn passed away on 5 August. He was predeceased by his wife, Susan. Their daughter, Kathy Cornwell, can be contacted at 10698 Hampton Rd., Fairfax Station, VA 22039.

Clay J. Dugas passed away on 11 August. His widow, Cheryl, can be contacted at 706 Concordia Street, Baton Rouge, LA 70806.

John J. Richards died on 23 August. Jim's widow, Mary Ann, can be contacted at 803 Bradley Road, Point Pleasant, NJ 08742.

Gaylord Hopkins' wife, Barbara, passed away on 13 August. Gay can be contacted at 3210 Bellflower Way, Lakeland, FL 33811.

Austin Seay sent the sad news that his son, William Austin Seay, passed away on 26 July. His obituary and additional information about his military service and career can be seen with Austin's Current Biography on our web site.

Writing from his home in Springfield, MO, Charlie Minter sent this account of a summer visit with his Ninth Companymate Dick Anderson.

     In mid-July, Carol and I traveled to Castine, ME, at the invitation of Dick and Helen Anderson to attend Castine's annual Bastille Day celebration. Dick and Helen's beautiful home overlooks Hatch Cove off the Bagaduce River. We spent many hours together talking, eating, drinking, and just relaxing on their back porch overlooking the water. Helen and Dick provided delicious home cooked and restaurant meals the whole week and we treated everyone to a lobster dinner one night.

Dick and Helen Anderson

Charlie and Carol Minter

Dick as Revolutionary War General Wadsworth

    One of the highlights of our stay was witnessing Dick, in full uniform as General Peleg Wadsworth, conducting a discussion of one of the biggest disasters in U.S. Naval history, the ill-fated Penobscot Expedition. The discussion, before a large audience at the Castine Library, was with fellow "performers," also in uniform, Commodore Dudley Saltonstall and General Solomon Lovell. For history buffs, here are a couple of links to the Expedition. Click HERE and Click HERE: The Penobscot expedition - a Revolutionary war disaster.

    During our visit, Bob Harper ventured down from his summer home in Winter Harbor. The five of us spent many hours bringing each other up to date on our families, mutual friends, our medical conditions (a mandatory topic at our ages), and just reminiscing about past shared experiences. With Dick and Helen, we later traveled to see Bob and Anne at their home. They treated us to a wonderful seafood feast at an awesome waterfront restaurant in nearby Corea. It was another great visit for the memory books.

Harpers, Andersons, and Minters

The Current Biographies section of our web site provides an opportunity to record information about your career, family, activities, and personal interests. More than 400 members of the Class of 1963 have submitted their information. It is easy to do, and there is no prescribed format or content; it's up to you. To be included, just send your text and digital photos to our Webmaster, Steve Coester, at scoester@cfl.rr.com . Don't miss this opportunity to record your information and have it available to your classmates, family, and others.
If you have already submitted your current biography, please review it now and tell Steve about any updates or additions that should be made.

Mike Rubel shares a recent picture plus a happy memory from First Class cruise in 1962.

Ron Terwilliger and Mike Rubel

This is a photograph of Ron Terwilliger and me at a dinner we had in Oyster Bay, Long Island this summer. We talked about one of our classmates, Wayne McCreary, who seemed to have been lost for many years, but Ron found him and as reported earlier they visited down in Florida.
Wayne, Pat Wilkes, Jim Oakes, and I were on an aircraft carrier during First Class cruise. Our first port of call was Cannes on the French Riviera for 12 days. I asked a lieutenant in charge if we had to report to the ship every morning. He said, "No, as long as you're here when we get underway." We had a marvelous time getting into as much trouble as possible. Jim jumped on a train and went to Paris for a week and joined us a couple of days before we went to sea again. We became friendly with the AD Squadron who rented two adjoining condos overlooking the beach. They used it during the day, and we used it during the night. We never did go back to the ship until the night before getting underway. The good old days!

At a ceremony in Washington on 23 September, Ron Terwilliger was honored as a recipient of the Lone Sailor Award conferred by the United States Navy Memorial. The award is given to Sea Service veterans who have excelled with distinction in their respective careers during or after their service. The award recipients include an impressive list of men and women who have distinguished themselves by drawing upon their military experience to become successful in their subsequent careers and lives, while exemplifying the core values of Honor, Courage and Commitment.

I have no more news to share, so here are a few images you may enjoy from our past Shipmate columns.

Celebrating in Yokosuka

This picture from 1983 shows some of the attendees at a 20th Reunion party at Dick Wyttenbach-Santos' quarters on the Yokosuka Naval Base. Left to right are Jerry Harken, Flack Logan, Dick, Joe Bustamante, and Denny Conley.

Classmates attending the retirement ceremony

Taken in June 1997, this image shows classmates at RADM Rich Wilson's retirement ceremony at the Washington Navy Yard. The four flag officers in uniform - Denny Vaughan, Denny Conley, Larry Marsh, and Paul Tobin - were sideboys when Rich was piped over the side. Among our classmates at the ceremony were Satch Baumgart, Mel Bunnell, Dave Byrnes, Doug Davidson, Frank Edrington, George Emery, Joel Gardner, Bill Howard, John Kelly, Dan Koczur, Bob Little, Roger Mehle, Jeff Miles, Charlie Minter, Dirk Praeger, Jim Ring, Stuart Settle, Mike Shelley, Forrest Siburt, Tom Taylor, and Bruce Webb.

Companymates in South Bend

This 2006 image shows 17th Companymates who came to South Bend, IN, to cheer for Navy football against Notre Dame. The group included Ralph Kimberlin, Dave Riley, Mike Obsitnik, Rags Ragano, Mike McDermott, and Bruce Webb.

This photo, also from 2006, shows Pete Optekar, Rob Newton, Bob Campbell, and Mike Krause at a meeting of the Navy League of New York City.

Backpacking in the Sierras

Photographed in 2010, Sandy Stoddard, John Peterson, and Phillip Marsden enjoyed a multi-day adventure in the Emigrant Wilderness north of Yosemite National Park.

4th Companymates

This photo from our 25th Reunion in 1988 shows some jolly members of the 4th Company: Mike Harman, Jim Koehn, Tom Haney, and Sonny Langley.

The Spiffys reborn

I don't have a date for this image. I think it might also have been from the 25th Reunion. Reprising their performances with The Spiffys during our midshipman years are Donn McCrory and Tim Harvey.

I encourage you to take a few minutes to send me an email about what you've been doing and any classmates you have been in contact with. We depend on your support to keep this news exchange timely and interesting.

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