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JIM
ROMIG |
Jim Romig, Gunner's Mate 2c
(SS), was discharged from
the Navy at Treasure Island,
California, on 28 October
1954. In the spring of 1955,
he enrolled at Ventura
Junior College, where his
play at linebacker on the
football team earned him a
scholarship to San Diego
State University. He entered
SDSU during the fall of
1956, and after three years
of study and football
graduated in the spring of
1959 with a Bachelor of Arts
degree in Industrial Arts
and Physical Education. An
additional year of study
earned him a Teaching
Credential and a job with
the San Diego School
District. He spent over 20
years with the District,
teaching Industrial Arts and
coaching high-school
football. Along the way
(1964), he earned a Master's
Degree at SDSU. Then in 1981
he transferred to the
Grossmont-Cuymaca Community
College District and
finished his career with
over 12 years at Cuymaca
College as a teacher of
welding and physical
education. He retired in
1993.
During his early years as a
teacher, Jim worked each
summer (1962-1971) as a
Ranger in Yosemite National
Park, and there met Molly
Word, who was secretary for
the Park's Chief Ranger. Jim
and Molly were married in
1966 and have two children,
a son Scott, born in 1971
(in the Yosemite Park
Hospital), and a daughter
Kelly, born in 1974. Molly
died of cancer in 1994.
Jim now spends most of his
time in San Diego,
frequently visiting with
Scott and Kelly, who live
nearby. For two to three
months of each year,
however, he takes to the
road in his one-ton Dodge
diesel dually with camper.
He stays with his brother in
Texas for a month or so,
then heads out to
investigate features of the
country he served in that
war so long ago. During his
travels he also visits old
friends now widely scattered
across the country, many of
them Navy shipmates.
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TED
HOBSON |
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The day after his final
reunion with Romig and Moore
on the hill overlooking
Ventura, Ted headed east to
investigate an invitation to
play football at the College
of William and Mary, in
Virginia. His discussions
with the coach went well,
but there was a hitch.
Before joining the team, he
had to be accepted as a
student, and upon reviewing
his academic record the
College Administration
informed him that this would
happen only after he had
demonstrated an ability to
perform successfully in the
classroom. They suggested he
do this at an extension of
the college in Norfolk,
where entrance requirements
were more lenient. If
successful there, he was
told, admission to the main
campus and the football team
would follow. But even the
Norfolk Division balked upon
reviewing his transcript of
grades, and only reluctantly
did they allow him to take a
general aptitude test. To
their surprise, however, he
scored high on the test and
so was admitted for the 1955
spring semester.
If the college was surprised
at the high test score, Ted
was even more surprised by
how much he enjoyed his
classes.
Furthermore, the exposure to formal
instruction in biology
rekindled an interest in
tropical marine fishes that
he had developed years
earlier while living in
Florida. This interest
continued to grow until all
desire to play football was
gone and he aspired only to
be an ichthyologist. So upon
completing the curriculum in
Norfolk during the spring of
1956, he applied for
admission, not to the main
campus of William and Mary,
but to the University of
Hawaii.
Once in Hawaii, Ted took off
on a course that could not
have been predicted just a
few years before. After
receiving a Bachelor of Arts
degree in June 1958, he
continued there during the
following fall in the
Graduate School. He had
acquired expertise in the
new sport of scuba diving,
using it in several class
projects as an
undergraduate, and this
became his primary research
tool as a graduate student.
The research for his Masters
thesis--a study of shark
behavior in the lagoon of a
western Pacific atoll--was
the basis of the Master of
Science degree awarded to
him in the spring of 1961.
During this period, he met
(1958), and married (1959),
his wife Karen, and they
were joined by their first
son Brett (1960).
Now on a roll, the Hobson
family moved to California
during the fall of 1961, and
Ted enrolled as a candidate
for the Doctor of Philosophy
degree at UCLA. The Hobsons
spent much of the next four
years in Baja California Sur,
Mexico, where Ted's
dissertation research
involved study of predatory
behavior in fishes of the
Gulf of California. As in
his earlier studies, Ted
based this work on
underwater observations of
the fishes in their natural
environment. He received his
PhD in Ichthyology during
1967, and then began a long
career as a marine biologist
with the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA).
All three Hobson children
lived virtually at the
water's edge during their
most formative years, ages
1-4: Brett (b. 1960) during
the Gulf of California study
(1962-1965), Joanna (b.
1968) during study of
coral-reef fishes at Kona,
Hawaii (1969-1970) and Eric
(b.1972) during study of
kelp-forest fishes at Santa
Catalina Island, California
(1972-1975). Nocturnal
behavior was a major part of
these investigations, so the
Hobson household was
involved 24 hrs a day. With
this intimate exposure to
the marine environment
during development of so
many basic personality
traits, it is not surprising
that at present all three
offspring are in
ocean-related professions.
Ted is still going strong
after over 40 years of
scuba-based research
(although in an emeritus
role since December 2000, as
far as NOAA is concerned).
He occasionally reminisces,
and in looking back
recognizes that events would
have taken a radically
different course had not an
appreciation for academics
surfaced when he returned to
school after his time in the
Service. He attributes this
to a sense of values gained
in the Navy, which poses the
question: What if North
Korea had not invaded the
South during the summer of
1950.....?
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DINTY
MOORE |
Dinty remained in Ventura
for several years after his
discharge from the Navy. He
married his
on-again/off-again
girlfriend, Gail McAndrews,
and in 1956 they had a son,
Clifford. But the marriage
ended with a divorce in
about 1960. Dinty then moved
to Reno, Nevada, and began a
long career in construction
that was to include the
building of most of that
city's well-known casinos.
With the Sierra-Nevada
mountains nearby, he became
an avid outdoors man. On his
way home from work in the
evening, it became routine
that he would stop to fish
in the Truckee River, which
flows through Reno.
He married Judy during the
mid 1960s, and over the next
several years they had three
daughters–Dawn, Lisa and
Dana. That marriage proved
no more lasting than his
first, however, ending with
a divorce in about 1970. But
within a few years he had
met and then married Erma,
and this time settled into a
long and satisfying
relationship. Although Dinty
and Erma had no children
together, he adopted Erma's
daughter, Kelly.
Dinty was County Building
Inspector during his later
years, and in this capacity
became involved in every
major construction project
at a time that Reno was
experiencing explosive
growth. He also reconnected
with his son Cliff, and a
warm bond developed between
them. Dinty had finally
found contentment
when--suddenly and
unexpectedly--his life ended
at age 53 with a stroke in
December,1985.
There is a remembrance of
Dinty Moore, written by
Hobson, in the
Taps section:
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ART
COX |
Richard A. "Art" Cox married
Elaine Kolkman of Ventura
(literally the girl next
door) on 19 September,
1954--a month before his
discharge from the Navy.
They settled in Ventura,
where Art's first job was as
salesman for Jewel Tea
Company. Elaine had studied
nursing after she and Art
graduated together from
Ventura high school, and
upon gaining her degree
began a 30-yr career as a
Surgical Nurse with
Ventura's Community Memorial
Hospital.
Art put his Navy specialty
to use in 1959, when he
purchased a Mexican
fast-food restaurant on Main
Street in downtown Ventura.
This establishment, close to
Ventura High School, was for
17 years a favored hang-out
for students. Art sold it in
1976, however, and took a
position with the U. S.
Postal Service in nearby
Oxnard. He retired in 1991.
Art and Elaine have two
sons, Richard (Rick) Jr. and
Larry. They also have a
daughter, Karen. All three
now have families of their
own, and have provided Art
and Elaine with seven
grandchildren (including
twin girls). The entire clan
live in Ventura, so family
barbecues are frequent.
Art and Elaine have traveled
extensively during their
retirement years. They have
crossed the U. S. and Baja
California in a motor home,
and have been to sea on a
number of cruises. When at
home, Art plays golf, bowls
and also plays cribbage,
while Elaine loves to
crochet, knit and solve
cross-word puzzles. Both
continue to enjoy good
health, and find particular
pleasure in attending their
grandchildren's school
functions. They are
consummate grandparents.
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