JUNE 2018 • SHIPMATE 71

59/60 CLASS NEWSthree- story home with 39 stepsinto a one- story home with nosteps, a couple of blocks away inCarlyle Pennsylvania.

That’s all I have now. Pleasesend me some of your news!

Our upcoming Reunion will beone of our last chances to visit withmany of our shipmates. So pleaseclear your calendar, make your traveland sleeping arrangements, and joinus in Annapolis one more time!

Charlie Pease Sends Editor’sNote: The bulk of this column is anarticle that would not have been hereif the Obituary Editor had not runout of space at the last moment.Shipmate Magazine is not a time-sensitive newspaper. Please take alook at the Class columns of otherYears. Some of them fill four column!

So Rise And Shine, and send mesome class news whenever it happens, or if you remember anevent that you think is worthy ofclassmate remembrance.

’60Life Membership: 69%Donor Participation: 8.74%Pres: John J. Michalski2039 Homewood Rd., Annapolis, MD 20409p: 410-757-6429; e: navygoat@comcast.net

Sec’y: Bill Lewis14312 Cove Ridge Pl., Midlothian, VA 23112-4337p: 804-744-8808; e: bilewis@comcast.net

Website: http://www.usna60.com

From Rod Friedmann (5): M “Bill, we celebrated our Valentine’sDay luncheon with our ladies onTues., Feb the 13th at the EurasiaCafe in Virginia Beach. The weatheroutside was cold and dreary but ourladies brightened up the day withtheir presence. We had eleven couples plus one of our widows,Mary (Bo) Moran. Enjoying the special occasion were: Sandra & Bill Manning (14), Sara & Bob Powers(8), Bob ianucci (16) & his bride-to-be Jackie Rabidoux, Karen & TomInderlied (21) with guest MaryMoran, Barbara & Al Bissell (8),Prissy & wick Parcells (12), Ruth &Frank Kay (8), Gail & Bill Kee (9),Marilou & Al Ablowich (16),Catherine & Ed Clexton (10) andPaula & Rod Friedmann (5). We had

Class of “60 attendees were; JackSuddath (6) Russ hoke (6), BillCallaway (15), Mike Midas (23)and Clint Johnson (10). It was a bigcrowd with classmates of Carl’s lateson and many Delta Airlines pilotsand personnel. A reception washeld at the McCallum home afterward. Clint  

From Bob osmon (17)to warren hahn (5): M Hi Warren, I read recently thatyou were honored with a 50 yearDistinguished Member Award forAmerican Society of Refrigerationand Heating. I would like to extendmy most sincere congratulations.You represent us old guys well. God bless. Oz

From Charley Simmons (9): M “Dear Bill, we’re still having funfishing either in the Great Northwest(whether it be for salmon or halibut), but also while we were in

we were able to attend the Commissioning of the USS JimmyCarter out in Groton, and toured afterword. Some of the ship’s my father worked on at Marinette Marine included TWR TorpedoWeapon Retrievers, YPB’s Yard Patrol Boats for USNA, MCM’sMine Sweepers, USCG, WLB’sCoastal Buoy Tenders, WLM’s, GLIB (Great Lakes Ice Breaker),NYC DOT Staten Island Ferries,INLS Improved Navy LighterageSystem, and he caught the begin-ning of LCS-1 Freedom Class. Wemade up a nice photo collage for hisretirement. When the shipyardcalled to see if he could come out ofretirement, he did not hesitate, andwent back to work for another 6-years! I guess he liked working forsure. And when he passed, I cannottell you how many young and oldengineers, managers and shipyardworkers reached out to me, and toldhow Bob had quietly mentored andcoached, working through prints,tech manuals, sea-trials, and longhours to get the ships delivered. I think this was his way of serving.My father had lost his brother, Tom,who was a Navy pilot flying F-8Crusaders, on a test run just prior tothe Cuban Missile Crisis. His jetwent down off the coast near Jack-sonville. So maybe after that he andmy mother decided they would tryfor a large family. Funny how lifeworks. We cannot understand atthe time sometimes. So, thank youagain for reaching out. If no trouble,I would like to hear about you andyour classmates’ time in the Navy, if maybe you had gone on to servethru Vietnam. Either way, thank youfor your service!

18th Co. roommates at Navy: dick Moore, Bill Molnar and Bob Schultz”

I Spoke to Griff Hamilton, who losthis Linda in January. He seems to bedoing well. He has moved from a

‘60: Valentines Luncheon

a private dining room, with a threecourse luncheon from a fixed pricemenu. I have to report that all of thegentlemen were on their best behavior, while our normal “sea stories” were stowed away until ourmeeting next month. The aviatorswere especially well behaved. Rod

Manning & Bissell

From Clint Johnson (10): M “Bill, Carl McCallum (6) diedJanuary 5, 2018. His funeral was on January 20. It was held at JohnKnox Presbyterian in Marietta, GA.

’60: Simmons family fishing

72 SHIPMATE • JUNE 2018

60/61 CLASS NEWSKailua Kona, Hawaii my sonChristopher got us a fishing trip onthe Maverick fishing boat and wecaught approximately 19 twentypound Mahi Mahi dolphins. Unfor-tunately, the Marlin weren’t bitingthat day but it was a great trip... myboys and the family enjoyed it im-mensely. We had plenty of fish toeat during our week’s stay at theSea Village Condos. Pictured on thestern of the boat are my son Chris,my son Todd, my grandson Austin,me, and my son-in-law Steve”. Best regards to all. Charley.

Bob Traister (2) forwarded info on atrip he was on. His stop in thePhilippines included a visit withChuck Agustin (17) for a little golfand fellowship.

Chuck commented: M “Bob, it’s too bad you had a terribly short visit and we were onlyable to enjoy a little golf. But I amglad you made it, we were able tocatch up and talk about the oldtimes as well as new developments.We hope you’ll have the same fairwinds, sunny days and mild weatherthe rest of your cruise. Do comeback again.

We also enjoyed Vic for beingsuch a good sport in responding tomy request to join us.” Chuck

Chuck Agustin, Bob Traister, & Vic Mamon ‘61

Bob Traister, Chuck Agustin, Vic Mamon ‘61

’61Life Membership: 71%Donor Participation: 8.58%Pres: RAdM Jerome F. Smith Jr., USN (Ret.)

Corr Sec’y: RAdM E. S. (Skip) McGinley ii, USN (Ret) 3016 Quint Dr., Viera, FL 32940p: 321-622-4640; c: 202-549-2472e: skip.mcginley@1961.USNA.com; skipmcginley@cfl.rr.com

Webmaster: howard winfreee: winfree@1961.usna.comWebsite: www.USNA61.org

This first article comes to us fromBill Kraus (12): M “Here is an update on our Mid-Reunion 2018. As of March15th, we have 127 classmates regis-tered to attend, plus wives/guests.This beats our wildest dreams. Anda few more have indicated they alsoplan to attend. Be sure to get yourreservations in to the RanchoBernardo Inn & Resort right away if you have not already done so. JimRichardson (16) has sold over 220Navy/ Notre Dame football gametickets in our Class of 1961 Section.Other seats in this same section arenow going for well over $200 each.Game start time is still to be an-nounced. The Alumni Tailgate Partyhandled by the Alumni Associationis going to be great! Tickets arepriced at $60 each. We will arriveearly to take full advantage of all thefood and beverage. They plan toshut it down 30 minutes beforekickoff, so we can all find our seats.

Event planning is going strong,and is right on schedule. RogerGoodall (11) has arranged for a fleetof luxury motor coaches to take usto the various main events, plus the

optional tours/events. By the timeyou read this article, an alphabeticallist plus list by company attendeeswill be posted on our Class Website. Use these lists to contactfriends and to organize company/battalion parties for Wednesday arrival night.

Your Mid-Reunion committeehas called for the rest of the Reunion Registration fee in May.The interest in the optional toursand events is high. We will send outa final participation form later thissummer. Be sure to go to our ClassWebsite for up-to-date info (www.USNA61.org). User name is ‘WGNAC’,with password of ‘plebe’. Click on‘2018 West Coast Mid-Reunion’ inthe blue left-hand column. EXPECTThE EXPERiENCE oF A LiFETiME!”

Our next one comes to us fromour faithful Tidewater group led byNed Kuhns (7):M The 1961 Tidewater Virginiagroup had one of its largest participations in quite a while at its luncheon on Thursday, 8 March.Seated left to right are: dave Timm(20), Jim Laster (15), Jim Joyner(01), Charlie Stewart (06), dickhixson (19), Joe Kuhn (03-hon-orary) and Mike Gambacorta (03).Standing left to right are: Kurt Rohdenburg (20), Ned Kuhns (07),JP decker (08), Ken Craig (07),Tom McNicholas (09), and BobGraham (18). Fred Lowack (07)and Cyd driscoll (22) were alsothere but had to depart before wecould organize for a photo. MikeBradley (03) had just returned froma Caribbean cruise but couldn’t joinus because he supervises a busy taxpreparation office this time of year.

From Charlie Khoury (14): M “Super bowl 5k on Feb 4th. My team lost but at least I was nota couch potato that day.” Charlie

Khoury

From Jim Knorr (20): M “Thank You for 80th Birthdaygreetings. My big surprise was at“Club on Friday night while 21 of uswere assembled for early St Paddy’sannual Family gathering. SonTommy had contacted local NationalMarble Champion Doug Watson(2016) who assembled a small marble rink in the lobby of Club tochallenge? Me! 

Preamble: for many years I havepromised my 3 sons and 2 daughtersa trip to Wildwood, NJ for NationalMarble Championship (girls andboys) the 3rd week of June.

History: for my Grade Schoolyears at John J. Audubon I playedMarbles on the macadam black rinkand told many tales about my skills!Back to Friday night, I gave Doug abattle on the rink and we shouldhave pictures to be sent later. Need-less to say, 80th was wonderful forme and Family... and certainly a firstfor the Naval Academy Lobby.Peace Tug”

’60: The Champ & Tug ’61