News From Fort Schuyler

November 12, 1999 - Volume 3, No. 52

ADMIRAL RICHARD PATTERSON - News of the death of RICHARD OAKES PATTERSON, Class of 1923, was received in a recent letter from AL CHESTER, Class of 1935. Admiral Patterson, a gracious, intelligent, natty presence at Fort Schuyler during his years as Editor of the Alumni Association Bulletin in the 1970's and 1980's, died on September 14, 1998, at the age of 93. According to an extensive obituary in the September 27, 1998 Florida Times-Union, he began his naval career in 1929, was Executive Officer aboard the USS CURTIS at Pearl Harbor, and left the navy in 1946. He remained active in the Naval Reserve, retiring as Rear Admiral in 1965. He then sailed in the merchant marine until 1972, serving as Master aboard a number of United States Lines ships, including the SS UNITED STATES, and as ship trial master for General Dynamics. After swallowing the anchor, Admiral Patterson served as a maritime consultant, acted as an arbitrator, and was an expert witness in admiralty cases and casualty investigations. In his spare time, Admiral Patterson painted, sculpted and wrote. The Luce Library has one of his books, "The Mandarin from Salem" a novel based on the life of an ancestor, soldier of fortune, Frederick Townsend Ward. According to the obituary: "Admiral Patterson served aboard tall sailing ships and modern passenger ships and freighters of all descriptions. He claimed to have enjoyed command on the freighters most of all. He sailed the seas and oceans of the world and was an adventurer in every sense of the word."

HEADING BACK FROM SEA - CAPT. TIM McGEEIN, Class of 1988, master of the Guam-based Army Pre-position Force ship, SS GOPHER STATE, writes that: "We have just concluded our participation in Operation Crocodile 99, where we visited Australia and New Caledonia ("McHale's Navy" fame). TONY MARGAN [Class of 1983] is our MARAD program manager and visited the ship for these two port visits. We especially enjoyed the Club Med in Noumea, New Caledonia. It was fun telling old Domer stories and talking about the latest comings and goings of our fellow alumni." Tim heads back to the States and his family at the end of the week. He writes "...I can't wait to get home and build a fire. I can only stand so much of this tropical paradise. Fishing, scuba diving, surfing, golfing, etc., doesn't hold a candle to the warmth of my children's smiles or the feeling of holding my wife in my arms. It's a tough job, but someone has to do it."

HOME FROM A FRENCH REUNION - According to LEONARD WEISS, Class of October 1946, "..ten classmates and spouses [just] returned from a 10 day trip to France. We spent 5 days in Provence and 5 days in Paris. The highlight of the trip was a day spent with our classmate, CHARLIE STROMMER, who lives in a 300 year-old chateau just outside of Nimes." Besides Leonard, the travelers included: FRANK CLEMENT, WILLIE FEDORKO, OTTO LIEPIN, TOM MANCINI, JOHN MARSHALL, JOHN MARZULLO, JACK QUINN, and JOHN VISCARDI.

HEARD ON NPR - This note from JEFF HIRSCH, Class of 1984: "I recently heard what I believe was my classmate, LCDR GERD GLANG, NOAA Corps and NY Maritime '84, interviewed by Noah Adams of National Public Radio on Friday, November 5. Gerd is the Commanding Officer of the NOAA vessel WHITING, a side-scanning sonar equipped vessel used in the recovery/search efforts of the Egypt Air crash site. Gerd gave a very informative and interesting explanation of what the WHITING does and its amazing capabilities in surveying the ocean floor. Way to go Gerd !" You can listen to Gerd on RealAudio by searching for the keyword "Glang" at: http://www.npr.org/ For more information about the NOAA vessel WHITING go to: http://www.noaa.gov

WHERE ARE THEY NOW? A suggestion for a new NFFS feature, the whereabouts of former faculty, comes from BOB LIDDELL, Class of 1967. He asks: "Where are they now ? What did they do after teaching at Fort Schuyler?" He mentions Bernard Long (Physics), Bob Sennish (Humanities), and Terry Gargan (Engineering). BERNARD F. LONG, who taught physics at Fort Schuyler, went West. He recently retired from the faculty of Foothill College in California ("serving Silicon Valley and surrounding communities") According to a former colleague, PROF. JOE LONGOBARDI, Bernie and his wife raised a large family and are active participants in church and community affairs in San Jose. BOB SENNISH retired from SUNY Maritime in 1989. He is still pursuing the great American novel in the little Hudson River town where he lives with his wife, Peggy. According to DR. IAN MacNIVEN, Bob's tennis game is better than ever since cataract surgery. More to come.

MORRO CASTLE REMEMBERED - The October 28 issue of the British shipping weekly, Fairplay, featured a full-page article about the September 11 Maritime Industry Museum at Fort Schuyler commemoration of the 65^th anniversary of the MORRO CASTLE disaster. The article was written by FRANK DUFFY, a frequent contributor to Fairplay, Executive Vice President of the Museum, and brother of former VPAA DAN DUFFY.

REMINDER - The Luce Library will be hosting an appearance by best-selling author CLIVE CUSSLER on Tuesday, December 7 For details go to: http://www.sunymaritime.edu/LIBRARY.WEB/clive_page.htm