Here is a picture of Lettie and Ron and grandchildren, taken in Virginia Beach this February when Ron gave a surprise birthday party for her. Ron managed to keep a secret -- which Lettie says is quite rare. He arranged for their various children and grandchildren to gather at her father's farm in Virginia Beach. Ron got Lettie to drive him to Norfolk from their home in Kill Devil Hills, NC, ostensibly so he could catch a flight to his Northwest Airlines home base to connect with a scheduled flight to the Orient. (Ron is still flying, albeit as an engineer/navigator because he is over 60.) He somehow managed a detour to the farm. Greatly surprised, Lettie was also highly impressed with Ron's planning and discretion. We all had a good time but I've lost my detailed notes so I can't report specifics about the kids and grandkids. I do know that Ron has one son working as a design engineer for Delta Airlines and going to night law school in Atlanta. The other son is now in Maryland, I think.

    My wife, Connie, and I just returned from a brief visit with Lynn and Lew Blackwell in PGA West, La Quinta, CA, where they were just moving into a gorgeous home on the 11th fairway of the Weiskopf course. They have decided to take up permanent residence there, having retired from Chevron in San Francisco. Lew is staying in great shape and has become an avid golfer. He took me out to the driving range for a lesson. I always tell people I'm not old enough to play golf, but I came close to "signing up" after the visit. He pointed out Chuck Spadafora's place a block from them.

Lew has a golf cart that he claims can do 50 knots. It has seat belts! We survived the rides. We are looking forward to the 40th Reunion in September.

Here are two pictures from our time together. One shows the former roommates enjoying some fine wine. It was NOT French wine! Appearing left to right in the other picture are myself, Lynne (holding Tiger the dog), Connie, and Lew.

Roommates enjoying non-French wine

Detricks and Blackwells

   "Project Class of 1963" is an effort by members of our class to give a rowing shell to the Navy crew and establish an endowment fund to purchase replacements so that from this autumn on, there will always be a shell in the Navy crew fleet bearing the name CLASS OF 1963. A rowing shell is a tangible thing that one can see and touch. There has been a shell named CLASS OF 1963 in the past. I visited it in Hubbard Hall while it was in the Navy fleet. It gave me a great deal of pride to see it there as a very appropriate memorial to our class.

Fundraising efforts for the project have been underway for several months. We already have enough in pledges to purchase and endow a four-oared shell. We would like to continue the drive until we have enough for an eight. Part of the package is to make and install a plaque on a bulkhead in Hubbard Hall, the crew boathouse. The plaque will contain the names of those members of our Class (and others) who have contributed to make the project a success. There might be other members of the Class beside oarsmen who may desire to contribute to the project and see their name on the plaque. Indeed, the organizers of the project have never intended to restrict the pool of potential contributors to former oarsmen. So far, that is the only group we have contacted, but only for financial and administrative reasons. Anyone wishing to participate in our effort can contact me by phone at 919-967- 3002, or by e-mail at ceadams@nc.rr.com

        It is significant that the project has the support of the Class of 1963 leadership. It is not competing with the effort to raise funds for our 40th Reunion gift to support the USNA Academic Center. Classmates are encouraged to donate to either -- or both -- of these worthy endeavors.

    If memory serves, our classmate Jim Lynne nailed a MiG while flying a Spad in early 1965. I remember reading about it in Stars & Stripes while on Okinawa and then running in to Jim in the Club at Subic while on liberty from USS IWO JIMA during the summer of '65. When I asked him how he did it, he very modestly said something like "Easy. He flew in front of me and I shot him down." I'm not sure which carrier he flew off--may have been CORAL SEA. I hope this helps.

Walt reported that he and Betty are moving to Jupiter, FL, sometime this spring. That should be quite a change after their many years in Northern Virginia.

    I was standing on the dock at Trellis Bay, Tortola, British Virgin Islands, and was introduced by a friend to Doug Davidson! We both did a mutual return to what we looked like 40 years ago, and rejoiced at the chance encounter. Doug and his wife Charlsie were there for a visit with my next-door neighbor on Great Camanoe. They toured the island and stopped by our house for a view of the islands to the east and a coming tropical shower. Two photos (available in Shipmate) commemorate the occasion, one of the two classmates and one of the two couples -- Charlsie and Doug Davidson (on the left) with Dick and Ann Omohundro.

    In July 2002, I became the QA Manager for the New Mexico offices of an A/E firm called DMJM Holmes and Narver, Inc. Basically, I manage the QA activities at our Los Alamos and Albuquerque offices and do a lot of supplier qualification/oversight activities. Travel is minimal and I make it home most evenings. The work is fun and the team focus and way of doing business often approaches the environment I enjoyed in submarines.

As sort of a sideline, I seem to have done well enough in the supplier "assistance" area that I have now been requested to work with client vendors (as opposed to our vendors) in QA trouble on certain Los Alamos National Lab jobs. It's sort of like consulting, but I am usually working as a member of a "get well" team, and the projects are generally involving fabrication shops and suppliers who need a lot of help fast -- the kind of thing I've been doing for 15 years or so. It's kind of fun actually, and everyone usually seems very grateful if I can get them through alive and producing acceptable widgets for the client.

We downsized to a nice little place at the base of the Sandia Mountains north of Albuquerque. It has fast access to the interstate, which helps commuting to our office in Los Alamos. Lynda likes the new place which is smaller, all on one floor (no stairs to fall down), and easier to maintain. Me, well I just feel blessed.

Pete Carrothers hosts cocktails afloat in Annapolis

David Puckett and granddaughter

        Enjoy your summer, use that sunscreen to protect your healthy skin, and start preparing for our Reunion. Be there!

  QUALITY - '63

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This page is  Shipmate:     June 2003  posted on:  2 April 2003

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