Shipmate Column
September-October 2024
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.
I have the sad duty to report the loss of two classmates and four '63 wives, as noted below. Be sure to read their obituaries in the Last Call section of our web site. When available, obituaries for wives and widows are posted with their husbands' Last Call or Electronic Lucky Bag entries.
John Francis Cook, Jr., died on 3 June 3. Frank's widow, Fran, can be contacted at 5 Bishop Gadsden Way, Unit 1025,Charleston, S.C. 29412.
Edward A. Ruckner passed away on 25 June. Ned's widow, Pam, can be contacted at 2988 River Reach, Williamsburg, VA 23185.
Bob LaGassa's widow, Zoe, passed away on 15 January. We do not have contact information for her next of kin.
John Truesdell's wife, Linda, died on 6 May. John can be contacted at 1331 N. Albrego Drive, Green River, AZ 85614.
Jack McDonald's widow, Anne, passed away on 9 June. We do not have contact information for her next of kin.
Max Ricketts' wife, Edith, passed away on 25 June. Max can be contacted at P.O. Box 2910, La Mesa, CA 91943.
Our classmate Glenn Laury died with Parkinson's Disease on 12 November 2023. Since then, his widow, Debbie, has been working diligently to help expand the VA medical care available for in-home services. This is her latest progress report.
When Glenn became permanently disabled and required in-home nursing care, we discovered that neither Medicare/Tricare nor the Veterans Administration provides round the clock, in-home professional nursing care. To help correct this, I am continuing to work on the passage of S.141 The Elizabeth Dole Home Care Act of 2023. The bill passed almost unanimously in the House (H.R. 542) but it is languishing in the Senate notwithstanding its co-sponsorship by 28 Senators from both sides of the aisle. This bill would allow the VA to fully fund and provide 24/7 round the clock licensed professional in-home care to any permanently disabled veteran suffering service-related catastrophic injury or debilitating exposure to toxic chemicals. I sincerely believe it would be in the self-interest of every one of your classmates to contact their respective United States Senators to advocate for passage of this bill. I believe there are at least two of your classmates who desperately need the care envisioned by this bill.
If I can do anything to prevent any other deserving veteran from suffering from the lack of care that Glenn endured during the last six months of his life, it would be my honor to get this critically needed legislation passed and funded. I welcome the opportunity to talk with you about this should you wish to do so. I can be contacted by email at debbielaury@gmail.com or phone at 396-503-9161.
An earlier note from Debbie is posted in the Hot News section of our web site. It includes a link to information about the bill and its sponsors that is on the U.S. Congress web site.
Charlie Jordan sent this picture taken at a meetup at the Atlanta airport.
I thought I would send you a photo of '63 classmates Felix DeGolian and Charlie Jordan meeting recently at the Atlanta Airport to tell war stories. Felix's wife Mallory was unable to join us, and my wife Elizabeth did not accompany me as I traveled from our home in Acqui Terme, Italy, to visit my younger brother in Georgia who was just diagnosed with Alzheimer's. Isn't old age wonderful?
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19th Companymates DeGolian and Jordan |
You may recall seeing the news here last November that our classmate Tim Harvey and his wife, Tamara, were having severe health and financial difficulties. Tim's son, Ross, established a GoFundMe account to raise funds to help with health and relocation needs. Our classmates responded generously and made a major impact on Tim and Tamara's circumstances. I received this progress report from Ross Harvey in July.
My dad and Tamara are mostly settled into their apartment. He is relatively stable health-wise, though he has some days/weeks that are better and others that are less so, with fatigue and cognitive struggles. He is now set up with the Hampton VA Medical Center and has a variety of specialist appointments in the coming months. We had a great visit with Dad's classmate Bob Harper, who stopped by for several hours. Bob has many amusing stories to recount! Dad was not having a great brain day, but he did remember quite a few of the things Bob asked him about.
Dad and Tamara's funds are nearly depleted, so on their behalf I again appeal to his classmates for help. The GoFundMe account can be accessed at https://gofund.me/18bb9362 The thoughtful generosity of the Class of 1963 has made a huge difference for them. Thank you, all!
Dave Moore sent this report of a summer meeting of the '63 Lake Tahoe Ski Club.
On 29 June Gary Thomas, Sandy Stoddard, and I drove to Bob Tieslau's farm in Fiddletown, CA, just for the heck of it. After a tour of Bob's wine cellar, we went to a restaurant in nearby Plymouth for lunch. Left to right in this picture are Stoddard, Moore, Thomas, and Tieslau.
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Tahoe Ski Club lunch |
Later we returned to finish the bottle of Zinfandel and have Bob's wife Maryun take some pictures. Bob also took us to his barn to show off his latest 30-year project -- his 1947 Chevrolet truck.
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Bob Tieslau and his '47 Chevy truck |
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The Ski Club shows Navy spirit |
Dave joined the 4th Company Zoom meeting on 7 July when we mustered to toast the 65th anniversary of the formation of the Class of 1963. He said he was toasting with a glass of Bob Tieslau's Ruby Cabernet from a vineyard on Bob's property.
Mike Blackledge calls our attention to a web site that's useful in locating the interment locations of our classmates, family members, and others.
Founded in 1995, FindAGrave.com lists cemeteries and graves worldwide, includes over 238 million entries, and adds many thousands of entries daily. Probably your parents are memorialized on the site. I have found some entries to be in error. I have corrected some memorials, created new or added photos to others, and begun to collect the memorials of our deceased classmates in a Virtual Cemetery for the Class of 1963. A link to this Virtual Cemetery can be found at the bottom of our Last Call page on the Class website.
It is free to sign up as a contributor to the site and add entries for family members and others. I encourage you to search for FindAGrave entries for our '63 classmates and to create entries for those who are not already listed. If you do this, please inform me (mike@blackledge.com) so I can add them to our Virtual Cemetery and tell our Webmaster, Steve Coester (scoester@cfl.rr.com) , who may add the information to their Deceased Data listing on the '63 web site.
Jim Metcalfe told me that he had visited Miles and Linda Schmidt in May at their home in Troy, Ohio.
On my way back from my Culver Military Academy 65th reunion, I dropped by the Schmidts' and was treated to Linda's warm welcome and Miles' delightfully sharp wit. They are well and I was served some vegetables from their well-kept garden. Also, Miles took me to the nearby WACO museum, a treasure of the history of the Weaver Aircraft Company in the early days of aviation. The next day Miles took me to the nearby USAF Museum in Dayton, where we spent six hours in just one hangar!
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Miles Schmidt |
We'll close with this nostalgic photo from our time at USNA. You may not know that Tecumseh is no longer painted to generate fighting spirit to support Navy teams, boost Brigade morale, or for any other reason. Sadly, he is now only his plain bronze self throughout the year.
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As we remember him. |
That's all for now, folks. My mail bag is empty, and I need your help. Please take a minute or two to send me an email about your recent activities to share with our classmates. Summer is a busy time and I expect you'll have something to report.
