Plankowner
Posts: 5024
Location: Gulfport, MS | Subject: Obit Messenger results for 11/14/07
GUNN, Jr., Gilman C., 84, of East Lyme, formerly of Groton, passed away Monday, November 12, 2007 in Niantic after a long illness. He was born April 23, 1923 in South Woodstock, Vt., the older son of Gilman C. Gunn Sr., and Bernice (Hesseltine) Gunn. He graduated from Keene (New Hampshire) High School, and received his degree from North Hampton Commercial College in 1942. Gil enlisted in the Navy in 1942 as a yeoman 2nd class, Naval Intelligence, and volunteered for submarine duty. He served on the USS Grouper (SS-214), in the Pacific, and was in four combat war patrols. His devotion to the Navy continued in civilian life, as a member of the Navy League for many years. "Gil" owned, along with his late brother Leonard, the real estate and insurance firm of Gilman C. Gunn and Sons, started by their father Gilman C. Gunn Sr., and their late mother, Bernice, in 1949. He was also the general partner of Groton Shopping Center Associates from 1977 to 1984, and a member of the New London Area Board of Directors of the Hartford National Bank. Gil was a tireless civic leader over many years. In Groton, he was president of the Eastern Point PTA for two terms in 1953 and 1954, and chairman of the Eastern Point Addition Committee in 1955 and 1956. In 1957 he was president of the Groton Chamber of Commerce, and chairman of the Military Affairs Committee of the New London Area Chamber of Commerce from 1985 to 2000. He was very active in Rotary affairs, both in Groton and Ledyard, and was president of Groton Rotary Club in 1965-66, along with senior leadership roles at the Rotary regional level and as district governor of Rotary International in 1974-75. He was the first chairman of the Town of Groton Sewer Authority in 1956. In the late 1970s he was a member of the Town of Groton Charter Revision Committee and in the 1980s he was a member of the East Lyme Charter Revision Committee. He was also recognized for his leadership role as chairman of the East Lyme Town Building Commission, from 1982 to 2000. Gil was also a member and past master of the Brainard Masonic Lodge No. 102 in Niantic. Gil is survived by his wife of forty years, the former Carolyn (Powers) Klestinec, of East Lyme, and her daughters Margot Crump of Boston and Martha Bedford of Wellington, Fla.; his step sons, David Becker of New Caledonia, Bert Gunn and Michael Bolton of Chaplin and Willimantic, respectively; his son, Gilman C. Gunn III of Wellesley, Mass.; and grandsons, Gilman C. Gunn IV and Andrew Gunn. Two sons, Bruce and Glen, predeceased him. Interment will be at 10 a.m. on Friday, November 16th, at the Colonel Ledyard Cemetery in Groton, followed by a Memorial Service at the First Church of Christ Congregational, Monument Street, Groton at 11 a.m. Byles Memorial Home, 99 Huntington St., New London is assisting the family with his arrangements. Donations may be directed to the charity of the donor's choice. Please visit www.byles.com for the family's online registry.
SCHWAB, Ernest L., CAPT, USN, Ret., 90, died of respiratory failure October 23, 2007 at Specialty Hospital of Washington. He lived in Potomac.
He was a native of Brooklyn, N.Y., and graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1939. He served in the Navy for 27 years, originally aboard the battleship USS Pennsylvania and in various submarines on nine war patrols in the Pacific during World War II. He was executive officer aboard the submarine USS Darter (SS-227) when it torpedoed and sank Japanese Adm. Takeo Kurita's flagship Atago in the Surigao Strait, effectively starting the Battle of Leyte Gulf. The Darter then grounded on an uncharted shoal, but its crew was rescued. After World War II, Capt. Schwab commanded the submarine USS Toro 9SS-422), the destroyer USS Wedderburn and the amphibious command ship USS Mount McKinley while it was the flagship during the early stages of the 1962 Cuban missile crisis. Among his shore-duty tours, he directed the Underwater Sound branch at the Bureau of Ships, where he was involved in the development of the underwater sensor system that allowed the Navy to track Russian submarines at sea. Among his military awards were the Silver Star and two Bronze Stars. Capt. Schwab received two master's degrees in law and diplomacy from Tufts University's Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in 1957 and 1958. His next shore assignment was in the office of the Chief of Naval Operations, where he was immediately involved in the 1958 Lebanon crisis. He also served in the defense secretary's office and with the Defense Planning Group at the U.S. mission to NATO in Paris. He retired from the Navy in 1964. Capt. Schwab then joined the Foreign Service as a director of force planning at NATO and later was special assistant to the U.S. ambassador to NATO. After returning to the Washington area, Capt. Schwab worked as a research analyst with Mitre Corp., the Institute for Defense Analyses and RAND Corp., where he was a senior resident consultant until 1983. He published numerous journal articles on military matters and wrote a book, "Undersea Warriors: Submarines of the World" (1991). He volunteered with the Montgomery County Board of Social Services, the National Museum of American History, the National Air and Space Museum and the Decatur House Museum
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Obit Messenger results for 11/14/07
