Chapter Members: Profiles

A primary purpose of a Naval Academy Alumni Association chapter is to facilitate communication among members.  Your chapter officers have considered the advantages of providing member information for the Chapter on our web site and have decided that it would be beneficial to have a roster of New Mexico alumni.  If you are a member and none of your information is provided in the table below, you have either specifically requested that it not be listed, or you have not provided your information to the Chapter Webmaster at [email protected].   

 
You can generate an e-mail message to a member by clicking on the e-mail address provided.  If a member's name is hyperlinked, click for additional information, interests, or photograph.  

Active Members:  Name Tags

One of the benefits of paying Chapter dues is a permanent name tag for yourself, and one for your spouse or guest.  Our Chapter Treasuerer Ken Fladager orders and distributes the name tags.  Come to the next event and collect yours.

 Last Call:

Ole Olson, USNA '64    Ole Olson passed away onThursday, July 8, 2021, from complications of COPD.   Maury Hartle, USNA '44    Our esteemed Chapter shipmate Maury Hartle passed away on May 10th, 2021 at age 100. What a full and adventurous life he had.  His obituary from the Albuquerque Journal of 16 May 2021 is linked here and  provided here.      Bob Francis, USNA '56   Retired Colonel [USAF] Bob Lawrence Francis passed away on Wednesday, September 25, 2019.  Ever proud of his New Mexico heritage, Bob was born in Tucumcari in 1932 to Genevieve Henry and Miller Francis. The untimely death of his father shortly after his birth, left his Mother with the task of raising him and his only sister, Bettie Vi. His Mother’s work moved them to Santa Fe before he started school, and there he attended Wood-Gormley Elementary and Leah Harvey Jr. High before entering Santa Fe High School with the class of 1950. After one year at SFHS, his sister's severe illness made necessary a family move to El Paso, Texas where her treatment was available, and where Bob attended and graduated from Austin High School in 1950. The Korean War started in July 1950, and after a very short period at the University of New Mexico, Bob enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in January 1951. After Boot Camp, he was assigned to the Navy Electronics “C” school at Treasure Island, California. While there, he was nominated to the United States Naval Academy, and sent to Prep School in Maryland where he arrived just one day prior to the entrance exams. Success there led to an appointment to the USNA as a member of the class of 1956.   Graduating with a degree in engineering, he, along with many other USNA and West Point graduates, were commissioned as Second Lieutenants, and Regular officers, in the recently created U.S. Air Force (formerly the U.S. Army Air Corps). The very next day he married Martha Grace Turrell, and together they had three sons, Lawrence (Larry), Miller, and James (Jim). Both the oldest and the youngest sons preceded him in death.  After 34 years, that marriage was dissolved in 1991.    His Air Force career was comprised of flying school, and two line assignments, both of which consisted of hours and hours of boring times, occasionally interspersed by a few moments of real excitement. He was able to log time in both reciprocating and jet engine aircraft. A couple of tours of duty at the Pentagon earned him staff time, as well as the opportunity to fly VIPs to many interesting places. He also had a tour in Saudi Arabia. The Air Force sent him to the Harvard Business School where he received a Masters Degree, and because he had done so well, upon his graduation, the Air Force sent him to Viet Nam where he flew ‘Scatback’ film recovery missions all over Southeast Asia.   After his flying days were done, he had many leadership and command opportunities, including: Commander of the first squadron of T-43s, (i.e., Boeing737s), Commander, Patrick AFB, Florida, and in Albuquerque as Commander Air Force Weapons Laboratory, and Commander of the first Air Force Space Technology Center. To him, the highlight of all of these tours was when he was made an Honorary Chief Master Sergeant   .After retiring from the Air Force in 1984, he both worked and taught Real Estate, worked for Northrop, and helped to form the nucleus of PACA, the Professional Aerospace Contractors Association. He also served on the Board of the Kirtland Federal Credit Union.  In 1993, he married Bettye Rae, and they have recently celebrated their 25th anniversary. Note: Bob has authored this, his own obituary. Also, at his request, he was cremated, and there will be no memorial service. He asks that all who knew him have good thoughts and a Great Day.   Jim Russell, USNA '73

Commander James Emmitt Russell, age 69, passed away August 1, 2019, from complications of Huntington's Disease. He was a Naval Academy Graduate, Class of 1973 and Retired Naval Aviator. James served our country for over twenty years. He also served as Director of Transportation for eight years, under Governor Johnson's administration, then deployed to Afghanistan as a contractor for the US Army. James is preceded in death by his parents, Dick and Ramona Russell; father-in-law, Martin Chavez Sr. and mother-in-law, Sadie G. Chavez. He is survived by his wife, Pauline Chavez Russell; three stepsons, Matthew Jaramillo and wife Angelic, Steve Jaramillo Jr. and Robert Jaramillo; three granddaughters, Mia Jaramillo, Alexa Alvillar, and Vana Jaramillo; sister, Carol Jane Russell and brother, Jerry Russell from Kansas; brother-inlaw, Marty Chavez Jr. and wife Lisa. Services will be held in Belen on 26 Aug 2019 at 11 am (visitation at 10 am) at the Romero Funeral Home - call for further information at (505) 864-8501. Cremains to be interred at the Naval Academy at some later date.  Jim's' online tribute is at www.romerofuneralhomenm.com Romero Funeral Home, 609 N. Main St. Belen, NM.

Tribute by Joe McGuire:  Very sad to hear of Jim Russell's passing.   Back in '05, when I first started serving on the New Mexico Chapter Board as Treasurer, I met Jim at a Fox 'n Hound Sports Bar meet-up for a football game. We and our wives became friends, shared dinners periodically, and traveled to a couple of the USAFA games together. He later revealed what he and his wife Pauline knew of his hereditary misfortune, having inherited Hunngton's Disease. He was as determined as possible to assure that Pauline and her children would be as financially secure as he could make them when the end came.   Pauline's family is from Belen, where the service is being conducted.. Jim and Pauline left ABQ after his work with Gov. Johnson's administration was finished, and traveled about the country while he was working for the Dept. of the Army. When that was done, they moved back to Mariposa in Rio Rancho, and I put them back on the Chapter's active member roster.  He certainly played the cards he was dealt as a true gentleman and without complaint.  May God bless Jim, Pauline, and their family.     Joe McGuire '68

Hank Schwartz, USNA '62

The Chapter sadly reports the recent and unexpected death of our devoted member and Past President, Henry William "Hank" Schwartz, USNA Class of 1962.  Hank and his wife Salley have been mainstays of the New Mexico Chapter for many years. Hank's autobiographical sketch can be read here; several members of the Chapter attended his Memorial Services on Saturday 27 April 2019 at St. Chad's Episcopal Church in Albuquerque. Hank's cremains will be interred at the Naval Academy cemetery.  The family suggests memorial donations can be made to:         U.S. Naval Academy Foundation         274 Wood St,         Annapolis, MD 21402

Bill Horton, USNA '44  William Giroux "Bill" Horton, age 97, Commander, US Navy, retired, of Albuquerque, New Mexico, passed away peacefully on 25 April 2018, surrounded by those he loved.   Bill was born at home in Oswegatchie, Waterford, CT in the middle of a snowstorm on February 5, 1921, spending his earliest childhood years there, learning to sail at a young age on the shores of the Niantic River.  At age 10 his family moved to Lucas Point in Old Greenwich, CT. In the late 1800's, Edwin J. Lucas, Bill's grandfather, an enterprising young businessman, developed a community of large summer cottages still known today as Lucas Point. Bill continued his love of sailing, spending endless days sailing in the waters off Lucas Point and beyond. Bill's childhood home, which he visited several years ago, is still there and the community is now a historic district.   A three sport letterman, he graduated from Greenwich High School in 1938, enlisted in the Navy, and won a competitive appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis MD, graduating in 1943. While at the Naval Academy, as a Midshipman, he marched in the 1941 inaugural parade for President Roosevelt.   He was a combat veteran whose 30 year career spanned World War II, Korea and Viet Nam with tours of duty in the Pacific, Atlantic, and European theaters. A Naval Aviator, he served aboard aircraft carriers as a fighter pilot, his first airplane being the Corsair. He was one of the first Navy pilots to fly a jet aircraft, and was the first pilot to make 100 carrier landings on the USS Coral Sea. He later became an experimental flight test pilot. His love for the Navy and his country was contagious. In 1946 on a visit to Rome, Italy he was received in a private audience by Pope Pius XXI.    Moving his growing family every three years due to Navy fleet assignments and shore duty, in 1963, while attached to the NATO Nuclear Weapons School and stationed with his family in Oberammergau, Germany, his entire family learned to ski. If not for a change of duty station at the very last minute, his four sons would have learned to surf in Hawaii. The family skied extensively throughout the European alpine regions. On their return to the US and New Mexico in 1966, they continued their love of skiing in all of the western states.    Following his retirement from the Navy, he was employed as a development and logistic engineer for nuclear weapons by the Atomic Energy Commission (later known as the Department of Energy) in Albuquerque, NM retiring in 1984.   Throughout his life he was known as a man of enormous energy, confidence and enthusiasm. He had a lifelong love of the sea and sailing, was an experienced sailor and navigator who took great pride in his ship handling, navigation and sailing skills, serving 15 years as a captain of sailing yachts in the Caribbean Sea, which was followed by 15 years of windsurfing in the Caribbean Islands of Aruba and Bonaire, the Columbia River Gorge, OR and Padre Island, TX.   Bill was a 25 year member of the Sandia Peak Ski Patrol, in Albuquerque. He was the principal builder of the Ski Patrol Hut that bears his name at the top of Sandia Mountain. In addition to being a ski instructor, he was also a 20 year Red Cross hospital orthopedic volunteer, and a 38 year member of the Albuquerque Tennis Club. He also enjoyed snow shoe touring, furniture making, and spending endless hours gardening.   He continued skiing and playing tennis even after his 90th birthday. He was an active member of the US Naval Academy Alumni Association attending many of their reunions, and also a member of the Military Officers Association of America.   He was previously married to Elaine Dargue of Abilene, TX and Albuquerque, NM, the deceased mother of his four sons. Preceded in death by his mother, Marjorie Lucas Crary of Greenwich and his father, Robert Ellsworth Horton of Burbank, CA; brother, Robert of Greenwich, CT; and sister, Marjorie of Sun City, CA. Bill is survived by his loving wife of 25 years, Bonnie, his constant companion, who he met playing tennis, and who shared actively, and participated in all of his many activities and adventures including sailing, windsurfing, and snow shoe touring. Bill also leaves behind his sister, Maureen; sons, Gary (Ellen), Bruce (Evy), Scot (Ann), Craig (Karen); grandchildren, Steven, Lyndsy, Jennifer and Nicole; six nephews and four nieces; three stepchildren, David, Joanne (Ed), Paula (Pat) and step grandsons, Daniel, Andrew and Peter. Per his wishes, following cremation, Bill will be interred in the Santa Fe National Cemetery, Santa Fe, NM. Reception to be held in Albuquerque at a future date. Published in Albuquerque Journal from May 4 to May 6, 2018 Allen R. Ruth, USNA '59 Allen R. Ruth, Naval Academy class of 1959 (12th Company), passed away on Sunday, 1 May 2016.  Al and his wife Ellen lived in Pensacola, FL but made frequent trips to Albuquerque to visit their daughter Lani Ruth McCarson, and had joined us for several of our Chapter events, including one of our June Picnics.  The couple had recently returned from an extensive cruise through the Suez Canal, visiting Dubai and Israel along the way.  They were traveling by car from their home in Pensacola back to Albuquerque when Al suffered a massive heart attack during their stop on Sunday in Texas.   Following Al's death, Ellen went to Albuquerque to be with her daughter Lani.  Her address:  Ellen Ruth, c/o Tim & Lani McCarson, 12017 Apache Ave NE, Albuquerque, NM 87112. Al's memorial service will be Saturday, 4 June 2016 at 2 pm at St. Chad's Episcopal Church, 7171 Tennyson St NE in Albuquerque. "We loved Al a great deal.  He was a dear man and a good friend.  His death came as a shock and we will miss him.  However, he had a history of heart issues so his passing in this way is not surprising.  He shared with a mutual friend before he left for his last cruise that he was at peace with the Lord and ready to go at any time.  He was an honor to the USNA."   -  provided by Herb Richter, '59, and Millie Powe Ericsson of Gulf Shores, AL.   Recent photo of Al with grandson William, wife Ellen. James A. Dickey, USNA '56 CDR James A. Dickey, Naval Academy class of 1956, passed away on Friday, 6 March 2015.  He was 83 years old.  Jim received his Congressional appointment in the early 1950s, during the Korean conflict. He had previously joined the Naval Reserve and was attached to VF-885, an F8F squadron out of Olathe, Kansas. During one of the training weekends he was called in by his Commanding Officer and informed that because he had received the principal appointment to the Naval Academy, and the Squadron had been called to active duty, he had a choice of either going to Korea into a combat zone, or going to the U.S. Naval Academy. During final exam weeks at the Academy, he often expressed his doubt about whether he had made the right choice. Compared to exam week, maybe Korea wouldn’t have been all that bad. Jim graduated with the 17th Company and was commissioned into the Supply Corps on June 1, 1956. On June 2, 1956 he married Lila Jean Read of Annapolis. Due to the class scheduling for the Supply Corps School, he was granted 35 days leave. With nothing to do, he got a job at the Baltimore Shipbuilding Company as a pipe fitter, since he was a qualified plumber from working in his father’s plumbing business. One day, at lunch time, he realized he had forgotten his wallet and was without funds. After finding an old gunny sack, he collected enough soda bottles at 2 cents apiece to purchase lunch. The unplanned largesse was the start of a very successful period of employment at the Shipyard, because his income from the pipe fitter’s job was about double of an Ensign’s pay! When the Supply Corps School schedule was ready for a new class, Jim and his new Bride went to Athens, Georgia for six months of training and daily courses in Southern dialects. Following graduation, his first assignment was aboard the USS Columbus. Then he was assigned to a destroyer escort, followed by two and one half years in Bangkok, Thailand, NAS Alameda, MACV-Vietnam, Naval Material Command, Washington DC, U.S. Naval Academy and Defense Supply Agency, Arlington, from which he retired. Following retirement from the Navy, he opened his business as a Stock Broker and Certified Financial Planner and, after twenty-seven years, completed his professional career. During his military career and later years, Jim and his wife Lila were ardent travelers, visiting over ninety countries. He was a member of the Annapolitan Club for over fifty-five years, and a member of China Post #1 of the American Legion for over thirty-five years. He is survived by his wife of fifty-six years, Lila; two granddaughters, Anna Fisk and husband, Garrett, and Callie Benjamin; and many friends. He is predeceased by his daughter Alix, who lost her battle with cancer in January 2012.   Jim was a past president of this chapter. With a little help from his friends, he was instrumental in resurrecting and reconstituting this chapter in 1994.  A Memorial Service was held Saturday, March 28, 2015, 1:00 p.m. at French's Funeral Home, 7121 Wyoming Blvd NE, Albuquerque.  Donald Rohr, USNA '55 Don Rohr, USNA '55 died at UNM Hospital in Albuquerque on Monday, 8 December 2014 at age 82.  Don served 22 years in the US Air Force, and had a second career with Sandia National Laboratories, from which he retired in 2008.  A Rosary was recited 18 Dec 2014, 8 am, at Our Lady of the Annunciation church, Albuquerque, followed by a Mass at 8:30 am.  Interment followed at Santa Fe National Cemetery.             Class of 1955         Albuquerque Journal obit John Conway, USNA'56 Judge John Conway, USNA '56 (1934-2014) died at his home in Albuquerque on Sunday, 1 June 2014 at age 79 after an illness.  His obituary in the Albuquerque Journal of 3 June 2014 (pgs C1-C2) can be read here and here. Dennis J. Falk, USNA '60 Dennis John Falk, USNA Class of 1960, a 42-year resident of Albuquerque, died on Sunday, April 8, 2012.   Born on September 16, 1938, in Lebanon, to John and Jean Falk, Denny lived a life of integrity, principles, and adventure, packing five lifetimes into his short 73 years. Having graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., Denny was a pilot in the Navy, serving with VA-65 aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise and traveling the world. Reed C. Mulkey, USNA '49 [from ABQJournal.com]:  On February 1, 2008, after a short illness, we lost our beloved Reed Claiborne Mulkey. He was a gentle, funny, intelligent man and a wonderful husband, father, citizen, soldier and a good friend to many. Reed was born in Roswell, New Mexico October 8, 1926. His mother, Frances Seay, was the daughter of a pioneering ranching family in the Territory of New Mexico. His father Reed McCuistion Mulkey, born in Sherman, Texas, moved to Roswell after serving in the Army during World War II. Reed attended school in Roswell, El Paso, Amarillo, and Albuquerque as his father chased jobs during the great depression. He graduated high school from New Mexico Military Institute in 1944 and joined the Navy V-12 program. While at Texas Christian University, he was introduced to Anna HolcombYork, a Connecticut Yankee. Reed went to the U.S. Naval Academy just as World War II ended. After four years and not very many dates, Anna and Reed married on June 7, 1949.  Reed took his commission in the newly formed United States Air Force and was posted to Randolph Field, Texas for pilot training, then on to Enid, Oklahoma to fly B-25s.  While at Randolph, Reed and Anna had their first child.  A year later, at Walker AFB, NM, Reed trained on B-29s and B-50s.  In Roswell, the second and third of five children were born.  In 1952, he was transferred to Limestone, Maine to fly the gigantic B-36, and later the B-52. The last two children were born in Limestone - five kids in five and a half years.  Anna took up writing for newspapers and other organizations, which she continued to do throughout their marriage. In 1959, the family was sent to Turner AFB, Albany, Georgia, and after a three-year stay, Reed went to the University of Chicago for his MBA. After a tour with the Boeing Company in Seattle, Reed was transferred to Kindley Air Base, Bermuda where the family enjoyed four years of swimming, boating, and life in the sun. Reed went on to Ching Chuan Kang, Taiwan for a Vietnam tour flying the C-130 while the family stayed in Bermuda. After another C-130 tour at Langley AFB, Virginia, he returned to CCK Taiwan, this time with the family. His final Air Force tour was at Dyess AFB in Abilene, Texas, a city founded by his great-grandfather, C.W. Merchant, at the end of the Civil War.  Reed received the Distinguished Flying Cross in 1969, the Bronze Star with V device for heroism in 1972, five Air Medals, the Meritorious Service medal, and the Air Force Commendation medal along with numerous campaign and other decorations. As a pilot, he flew over 12,000 hours. Settling in Albuquerque after retirement, Reed flew with the Civil Air Patrol for over twenty years. Anna and Reed were docents at the Rio Grande Zoo. They also enjoyed traveling and toured all seven continents; the last great trip was to Antarctica where they enjoyed meeting the chin-strap and gentoo penguins. In Reed's memory, a fund is being created to support the planned penguin exhibit at the Rio Grande Zoo. Donations in his name may be sent to the New Mexico Biopark Society, c/o the Rio Grande Zoo, 903 10th Street SW, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87102. Reed is survived by his wife Anna; daughter, Karen Ortiz, and her children Leo and Zachary; son Michael Mulkey, wife Barbara, and children Sharon and Steven; daughter Kim and husband Bryan Young; son Leslie, wife Sharon O'Connor, and daughter Olivia Max; and daughter Kitty. He was preceded in death by his parents and brother, Dick E. Mulkey.  Memorial Services will be held at French Mortuary Wyoming Blvd Chapel, Wednesday, February 6, 2008 at 1:30 p.m. French Mortuary, Inc.   n the past for the Community and for our Chapter.

VADM Frederick "Dick" Ashworth, USNA '33   VADM Dick Ashworth, a weaponeer in the WWII Manhattan Project and the technical weapns rep on board "BocksCar," the B-29 that dropped the atomic bomb on Nagasaki, died Saturday, December 3, 2005. He was 94.    VADM Ashworth was a long time resident of Santa Fe and is survived be his wife, Ercie Bell Ashworth, sons Frederick, Jr., David and Stephen.  They have three grandchildren and one great-grandson.   A 1933 graduate of the Naval Academy, Admiral Ashworth was born in Beverly, MA.  He served as  a military liaison to the Atomic Energy Commission, commanding officer of an aircraft carrier and commanded the U.S. Sixth Fleet.  Then-Captain Ashworth was assigned by General Leslie Groves to be a crew member aboard the B-29 that dropped the second atomic bomb on Japan, so that there would be an expert on board who had technical knowledge of the bomb, what it was supposed to do and  what it was like when monitoring the various components of the bomb in flight.   When returning to base after dropping the atomic bomb on Nagasaki, the crew of BocksCar heard a radio news report that the Japanese had approached the Swiss embassy about surrender.  In Admiral Ashworth's words, "That gave us a pretty good inkling that maybe, by golly, the war might be over."   A visitation is scheduled for 11:30 am, Thursday, December 8, 2005 at the Bernardinelle Family Chapel at 1399 Luisa St. in Santa Fe.  A funeral service is scheduled for 1:00 pm Thursday at Santa Fe National Cemetary.

LCDR George F. Nolan, USN (ret.), USNA '63 George Fred Nolan died on Tuesday, 29 Nov  2005, while attending a family reunion in Placerville, CA.   George graduated from USNA in 1963, and lived for 30 years in the Four Hills area here in Albuquerque.  Notification as received from one of his '63 classmates, Dave (D.B.A.) Moore:   George slipped quietly beneath the waves in Placerville, CA about 10:00 this morning, his ensign and commissioning pennant flying proudly from the masthead.  He was one of the truly good guys.   George is survived by his wife Bonnie and his three daughters:  Beth Paiz (spokesperson for the Albuquerque Police Department), and Katy Cardenas, residents of Albuquerque, and Marcey Nolan of PA.  George contracted colon cancer; his last message to Shipmates was to follow your doctor's advice on obtaining colonoscopies. For Navy and career summary and complete obituary,  visit the Class of 1963's tribute to George Nolan. The family will hold a reception for family and friends from 2 to 5 pm on Saturday, 10 December 2005 at the home in Four Hills.  George's ashes will be scattered at the family's Placerville ranch in late Spring 2006.

We are reminded of the last lines of the final verse of Navy Blue and Gold:   So let us live the life we love, and with our voyage through May we all muster up above, a wearin' gold and blue.