145th Column
Pictures at end of column
Sad News First. The last
column ended with the report of death of Mary
Jo Crowley. Not reported was her
double connection to the class: her sister Pat
Rossetto is wife of Jim (Rosie). As a sort of PS to the report last time, a vivid memory
of mine re Mary Jo & Frank dates
from graduate school at Princeton circa 1965.
When the lights came on in the theater after seeing “Thunderball” with
Sean Connery as 007, sitting behind us were the Crowleys. Frank looked dazed and spoke softly, saying
he didn’t know which he would prefer: an aqualung or a mink glove? Mary Jo was not too sympathetic re Frank’s
quandary.
Sad
news continues with the death of Charlie
Profilet’s death on 13 Nov (those
wired on class email already know this information). Notification came via company-mate, Sam
Myers: “I received the expected but never-the-less sad notification today
from Charlie's son: that our classmate's suffering ended Saturday and he joined
"the Ghostly Assemblage." He
slipped quietly and peacefully from the bonds of earth after a long battle with
cancer. Our prayers and thoughts are
with Sandy and their two sons, Charles and David and their families in this
time of grief. Jack Downing or I will post further information on arrangements as
they become available.”
Further information from Sam,
“Charlie was laid to rest in a well-executed military funeral this morning (17
Nov) in Davie, Florida with Sandra,
two sons Charles Jr. and David and families present. Three classmates were there: Heyward
Hutson E1 company-mate (who reportedly gave wonderful remarks), Clark Bailey D2 (who helped with local
arrangements) and Jack Halsey M1.
Several other graduates from the South Florida Chapter of AOG attended too. The
flowers from the Class and Company E1 were excellent and very much appreciated
by the family. The officiant, Rev Bill Quick, gave a warm and personal eulogy
and was a great comfort to the family.
“Note for Jack Downing: Clark
secured copies of the remarks (except Heyward's - who's copying them) as you
requested for obituary purposes. To whom should he send them?” The last is included to advertise that CINC
Obits Downing and Scribe appreciate receiving remarks made at funerals – good
poop for memorial articles and class notes in Assembly.
The email-wired classmates know that
our First Captain, Bob Durkin died
of a massive stroke on 14 Nov. One
advantage of procrastination/late submission is that I just returned from Bob’s
funeral at Arlington National Cemetery (3 Jan). Over thirty classmates and wives attended, including the
following F1 company-mates: Dick &
Barbara Bauschspies, Bob Gall, Bruce Hamilton, Harvey Jahn, Tony Nadal,
Bill Shepard, and Bob Rhodes (former cadet company
commander and long-time CCQ). The
weather was atypical of DC in January -- sunny and warm! Credit must go to our First Captain for
weather portion of the arrangements.
Everything else was capably handled by Judy and their three daughters.
After the funeral service at Ft Myer
Post Chapel (the old chapel), I quickly requested Tom Conti’s remarks which are
shared here: “A funeral is the celebration of a life well-lived. Today we have come to celebrate Bob’s life
despite the deep personal loss we all feel.
Most of us remember Bob as our First Captain or as company or section
mate. I came to know Bob at the end of
Plebe year when Bob, Dick Price, Ken Phillips and I traveled together by
train between West Point and Ohio on leaves.
Bob and I saw little of each other after graduation in spite of being in
the Air Force until we moved to Florida after our second retirement. Since then Gail & I met at least once a month with Jack & Arlene Halsey and Bob & Judy. Did you know Bob was a gourmet cook? While stationed in Taiwan he attended a
Chinese cooking school. I can attest to
his mastering the art of oriental cooking: his poi tasted as bad as any poi I
have eaten. Additionally, Bob was
conversant on subjects from flying to fishing, boating, golfing, politics,
medical and health issues. He absorbed
everything he read and he read everything.
No wonder he succeeded in whatever he undertook from cadet days to pilot
training to graduate school to AF R&D and his civilian career at Harris
Corporation.
“When Bob’s grandson, Spencer,
graduated from Army basic training, Bob & Judy traveled to Ft Leonard Wood
for the ceremony. You can imagine how
the basic training center reacted to a visit from a retired AF two-star. After the graduation, Spencer said to Bob,
‘Gee, Grandpa, I didn’t realize you were such a big deal!’
“All of us here this morning realize
what a big deal Bob Durkin was.
Husband, father, grandfather, classmate, fellow officer and friend, Bob
set the bar very high for all of us.
Godspeed, Bob, we love you and we’ll miss you until we meet again.” Thanks to Tom for his warm remarks during
the service and for parting with his notes for use in this column.
After the service, Judy and her
family had a reception at the Women’s Memorial (adjacent to Arlington
Cemetery). We enjoyed seeing them all,
but grandson SP4 Spencer was truly special – he wears the 101st Div
combat patch from a tour in Iraq, is now in the 10th Mtn Div and
will be going to Wurzburg, Germany in about six months. The old Soldiers and Airmen enjoyed talking
to this young, active duty Soldier. PS. The Halseys and Contis flew up from FL for
Bob’s funeral. Another who came a long
way was Mac Williams from Texas.
Roommates
and mea culpa. Back in 142d edition
there was an item on roommates the longest – topic raised by Pete Kusek on the class forum. At that point, we had four pairs who roomed
together for four years. Pete and Roger Gietzen began as roommates in
Beast Barracks. I rained cold water on Ray Coffey’s claim that he and Dick Smith also began in 3d NCC in
Beast. Ray was my first wife and I
accused him of forgetting me. Not so,
Ray called to explain that I was the guilty party in the memory loss
department: Dick Smith was our “other wife” in Beast. Bottom line is that Ray
and Dick join Pete and Roger as roommates for four years plus Beast Barracks.
Since that column
a few more have come up on the net as four year roommates: “I think that Tom Conti, Joe Paes, and I have some claim in the roommate competition.
We roomed together for all four years -- in the same division of barracks, at
that -- but did not room together in Beast.”
The third roommate and reporter was Mike
Mahler of L1. And in L2 we have
another two-man room of four-year’s standing: Dick Trabert and Jack Eliot. Makes two three-man rooms and five two-man
rooms (two of which began in Beast).
Are there more four-year roommates among us?
Out of time and space. About 185 classmates/widows and over 350
total attendees now really “Remember the Alamo!” Thanks to Jack Bujalski
and his crew for a Texas-size mini reunion.
The photos with this column are from San Antonio. 2005 reminders: if you are in DC area on
Sunday, 22 May come to the Memorial Service for our 13 whose names are on the
Wall followed by brunch at ANCC. George Hussey H2 will be featured. If not, certainly plan to be in San
Francisco with organizer Paul Ruud
and his gang of 12 in Oct (17-20).
A final statistical note sent earlier via email: I have been asked in the past and again recently, how many classmates have died? “Too many” is my standard answer. A couple of more definitive answers follow: of the 573 of us who were graduated in June 1958, 100 have died. Charlie Profilet was number 99 and our First Captain, Bob Durkin was 100. For a more detailed accounting of deceased classmates and widows, add the following: seven who served with ’58 in USCC and were graduated in 1959, 11 who served with us in USCC and did not graduate, one honorary classmate, Chaplain George Bean who served with us four years at West Point, and 39 wives. Our Roll Call stands at 158 total: up three since the memorial service at the Alamo. Another reminder: we are in the primary zone for this final selection – please attend class and company functions so that we can enjoy one another’s company on this terrestrial ball before joining class reunions in the Ghostly Assemblage.
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McGrew presenting
San Antonio streamer at class meeting
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Andresen, Sigurski, Ruud and Shellenberger with “L’Oject de Igor”
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Paul Ruud advertising
San Francisco 17-20 Oct 2005
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Lawton – two
demerits for unauthorized nametag -
Gonzo Compadres plus two -
E2 Guidon bearers -
Joe Luman accompanying, Kathy Schwar leading the Singing Senoras
