In Memoriam - Field Station Berlin

Patrick M. Keenan

2011-09-24T06:59:00.000-04:00

Patrick M. Keenan, 66, of Battle Creek passed away Wednesday June 8, 2011 at Battle Creek Health System. He was born on June 29, 1944 in Indianapolis, IN to James H. and Norma Lee(Harrington) Keenan.

Patrick served in the U.S. Army. He married Susan M. Broughton on May 15, 1982 in Battle Creek. Patrick was employed by the Digital Equipment Corporation in Novi, MI and then EDS in Lansing, MI.

He is survived by his wife Susan, brothers, Donald Keenan Ph.D., of Paris, France and Larry (Beth) Keenan, of Dallas, TX; sisters, Marcella Champion, of Cumberland, IN and Marcia Eldridge, of Somerset, KY; his step-mother, Ellie Keenan, of Dallas, TX; brother-in-law, John W. (Susan) Broughton, and numerous nieces and nephews. Patrick was preceded in death by his parents and a step-father Donald E. Whiteside.

He enjoyed auto racing, war gaming, miniatures, photography, and reading.

Graveside services will be held 10 am Friday at Ft. Custer National Cemetery. A “Wake” for family and friends will follow at the Irish Pub on North Ave. Memorial contributions may be given to Humane Society of South Central Michigan.

Dwight Arthur Heming

2011-09-05T12:37:00.002-04:00

Dwight Arthur Heming (1944 - 2011)

Dwight Arthur Heming, age 66, of Warrensburg, MO, died Sunday, February 27, 2011, at Boone Hospital in Columbia after a short illness.

Dwight was born in Willimantic, Connecticut, October 20, 1944, to Alice (Gibbs) Heming and William Arthur Heming, both whom preceded him in death.

Dwight attended Tufts University College of Engineering from 1962 to 1964 and received a Bachelor's Degree in Engineering Technology from Central New England College of Technology in 1976. He earned an MBA from the University of Central Missouri in 1986. He married Carol Piper in Westborough, Massachusetts, in 1965. He served in the United States Army Security Agency as a German Linguist from 1966 to 1970, most of his service in West Berlin. He has worked for Pittsburgh Corning Corporation since 1976 and was Manager, Process Control, Development, and Quality Assurance at Sedalia.

Dwight leaves his wife, Carol, his daughter Valerie Heming, Valerie's husband Raoul Kennes, and his grandson Jurgen Kennes, all of Warrensburg; his brother Martin Heming and Martin's wife Ann of Glendora, California; his nephew Edward Heming and Edward's wife Jennifer of Rocklin, California; his niece Heather Heming of Bermuda Dunes, California; and his beloved pets Alfred, Annie, and Alice.

Memorial contributions are suggested to the Warrensburg Animal Shelter or the Warrensburg Food Center.

Vince Lombardo

2011-09-03T09:05:00.003-04:00

On Tuesday, August 10, 2010, VINCENT JOSEPH LOMBARDO,
beloved husband of the late Carol S. Lombardo (nee Seidman), devoted father of Tracy Seymour of Columbia, MD and Sammy Lombardo of Pikesville, MD. Loving grandfather of Benjamin and Brittany Seymour. Dear father-in-law of Richard Seymour. Generous brother of Patricia Hough. Devoted brother-in-law of Leon Seidman of Hagerstown, MD, Cindi and Brad Schrum of Reisterstown, MD. Loving son of the late Joseph and Patricia Lombardo (nee Velardi) and son-in-law of Samuel Seidman and Lillian Cohen (nee Olschansky). Also survived by many loving nieces, nephews and dear friends. The family has directed all contributions to Krieger Schecter Day School, c/o Carol Seidman Lombardo Scholarship Fund, 8100 Stevenson Rd. (21208).

Serge White

2011-07-26T11:16:00.004-04:00

Russian linguist

Born August, 1945 Red Bank, NJ. Died April 26, 2004 Red Bank, NJ.

Graduated from Villanova with a degree in accounting before joining the Army. After discharge from the Army, Serge worked at NIH in Washington DC as an auditor and was in a PHD program in Russian at Georgetown.

[Information provided by Tom Vargo, Nyles Van Hoosen, and Chris Jones, Serge's contemporaries at Field Station Berlin. A thorough search failed to turn up a newspaper obituary]

Arthur R. Fisher

2011-07-26T10:02:00.002-04:00

McALESTER — Arthur R. Fisher, 62, of Broken Arrow, died Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2010, at St. Francis Hospital in Tulsa.

Born Oct. 20, 1947, in Talihina, he was the son of Israel and Bernice (Jefferson) Fisher. He grew up in McAlester and graduated from McAlester High School in 1965. He then attended Southeastern State College in Durant until he joined the United States Army, where he was stationed in Germany during the Viet Nam War.

After receiving his honorable discharge, he returned to Southeastern State College where he received his bachelor’s degree. He then went to work for the FDIC in the Oklahoma State Banking Commission office until his retirement.

Claude LeRoy "Lee" Crawford,Jr.

2011-07-21T12:10:00.005-04:00


Claude LeRoy "Lee" Crawford, Jr., 64, of 6130 Fairway Drive West,  Fayetteville PA, passed away, Thursday, May 14, 2009, at his home.

Born Thursday, November 9, 1944, in Hagerstown, Maryland, he was the  son of Ellen E. Smith Crawford of Hagerstown, MD and the late Claude  L. Crawford, Sr.  He was a graduate of North Hagerstown High School and later attended  Hagerstown Junior College and the University of Maryland.

After  college he enlisted in the U.S. Army and was assigned to the National Security Agency from 1966 to 1970. Lee was employed with  Wells Fargo as a Financial Advisor for many years and was also well known for his financial report heard on WHAG Radio for over  35 years. He was a member of St. John's Lutheran Church and enjoyed  golfing and gardening.

He is survived by his wife of 25 years Rosaria "Toni" Crawford; two  sisters, Karen Marie Crawford of Hancock, MD, and Kaye Ellen Crawford  of Baltimore, MD; step daughter, Lori C. Twiss of Waynesboro, PA; two  step sons, Michael A. Twiss of Martinsburg, WV, and Timothy V. Twiss  of Baltimore, MD; five grandchildren; Kayla Twiss, Michael Twiss,  Christopher Twiss, Siena Twiss, and Leo Twiss

Geoffrey Hayes

2011-07-21T11:52:00.004-04:00

GEOFFREY HAYES 1945 - 2009

Geoffrey Hays came from a long line of fighting men that dated back to the Highlands of Scotland where the members of the Hays Clan battled their bitter enemies. Geoff was born in 1945 and joined the Army Security Agency in 1963 shortly after graduating from high school.

After completing his basic 12 month Russian Course he was selected for an additional 6 month of training in advanced Russian and then sent to Vint Hills Farms for voice intercept training. Geoff was then assigned to the 78^th USASA SOU in West Berlin where he worked on the Hill as a 98G until his discharge in 1968.

After his discharge Geoff returned to Cheney, Washington where he attended Cheney State University before moving to Alaska. Geoff lived a vigorous life in Alaska that included working on Artic fishing boats, the Alaskan Pipeline and the railroad. He was married for 25 years before losing his wife to cancer. Geoffrey Hayes died from cancer in December, 2009.

In addition to his language skills Geoff also enjoyed writing poetry; his poem to Andrews Barracks is below.

The Parade Ground is quiet now,

This red brick, a monument to the fallen…

Here the cream of a nation

Swore blood redemption and marched

Precisely to its death.

Now the bright banners are faded

Rags in recluse closets.

With fresh brick and new windows,

The old barracks grins down at a new generation

Like an old whore in new panties,

And in the hallways at night the ghosts

Awaken and cry like a lost puppy.

Richard Merritt Fish

2008-02-11T18:32:00.000-05:00

German Linguist

October 8, 1946 - February 21, 1987. Born in Minneapolis, Dick died in Denver As a blond, curly-haired little boy, he went to Page School and then Blake. He was in Cub, then Boy Scouts and got an early taste of the mountains when he attended the national Scout Jamboree in Colorado Springs.

Dick started college at the University of Denver. At the end of his first year, he enlisted in the Army and served most of his four years as a German language interpreter with the Army Security Agency in West Berlin, Germany. Following his tour, he returned to the University of Denver where he graduated with a major in French. He spent his junior year in France at the University of Strasbourg.

On graduation he announced he was going to be a musician. A major influence must have been the 3-1/2 years he sang with the Johannischer Chor Berlin. So, Dick and his guita,r "Machine", started out. Then came Mr. Fish and Freddie, Lodestar, Ace-High Dealers, Wildlife, Both Barrels, Fish and Chips, and finally the Tollgate Band in Central City, CO, his musical home after 1982.

His fascination with math and computers influenced him to enter graduate school at the University of Colorado-Denver in 1983; he was nearing completion of his work toward an MBA.

Among his musician friends, he was known as Fish or Mr. Fish - the latter emblazoned on his Colorado license plates.

Charlie Ray Holbrook

2008-02-11T15:15:00.000-05:00

German Linguist

The eulogy below was written by Don Cooper.

A eulogy for Charlie

When Charlie Ray Holbrook arrived in Berlin in 1967, he was another "newk," a 20-year-old German linguist from Texas who in many ways was much like myself. At 21, I had been in Berlin for more than a year and fashioned myself one of the grizzled old veterans of the 54^th Army Security Agency Special Operations Command.

Charlie’s story did mirror mine, although he grew up in West Texas and I grew up in southwestern Arkansas.

During those days when the draft was like a sword of Damocles hanging over the heads of young men who were really ready to use college deferments to avoid going to Vietnam, Charlie and I both had enlisted, which gave us some options and other ways to keep from slogging through the jungles of Southeast Asia.

Or that’s what we told ourselves. In reality, we really joined the Army because – as Charlie said – to grow up and the Army, especially the Army Security Agency, seemed to offer both a chance to grow up and enjoy the glamor of being a "spy" in Berlin, the hottest spot of the Cold War.

When 20-year-old "Chuck" Holbrook arrived in Berlin, he recalled joining "a unit that made ‘M*A*S*H*’ look like serious drama."

"Being an Army misfit was already a badge of honor in such company. Legends had already grown from the exploits of what was basically a bunch of pretty smart drunks who had preceded me," he wrote years later.

So many of us were like Charlie, kids from small towns and cities around the United States who found Berlin to be a place where we grew up and out of our innocence.

In the late 1960s, Berlin was, as Charlie said, "an isolated microcosm of world events. The music was psychedelic and (we) were susceptible."

"Those years in the late Sixties were the most important years of the last century. Historians should throw those years around like lead weights," he later wrote. "They were heavy years. They have shaped our lives and the nation’s history ever since. That was the real revolution. And it hurts me to say it, but we lost.

"We came close when Nixon resigned, yet the power boys beat us (in 2000) when they put a man in the White House who was elected by nobody. The establishment won. The revolution died not with a whimper, but with a whine. We put the system on trial and the jury returned a no bill.

"But at least we fought and lost together, or some of us did. As Bob Dylan said, ‘I’m glad I fought, I only wish we’d won.’"

Charlie, who had been managing a food bank in Alpine for the past several years, waged his fight until the end, when he died peacefully Friday night in his mother’s home in Odessa.

Charlie Ray Holbrook was not someone that people in Hereford knew, at least I don’t think so. But Charlie was my friend, one of the links to my own past – and a reminder of my own mortality.

John W. Crossno III

2008-02-11T15:01:00.000-05:00

German Linguist

John W. Crossno III, 61, of Fort Smith died Saturday, Feb. 25, 2006, in Fort Smith. He was a teacher at Southside High School, taught English and German, and was an Army veteran and a member of First Baptist Church in Fort Smith.

Robert W. "Bob" Shideler

2008-02-11T14:50:00.000-05:00

C Trick Blue Analyst

Robert W. "Bob" Shideler, 61, Lenexa, KS, died September 30, 2007 in an accident at his farm in Carroll County, Missouri. Bob had lived in the Kansas City area for 21 years. He had been a salesman in the equipment and machinery business for 35 years and was currently employed by Sellers Equipment Co. He was a graduate of Kansas State University and an avid outdoorsman. Bob is survived by his wife of 39 years, Marcia L. Shideler and other family.

Peter Hugh Davis

2008-02-11T14:46:00.000-05:00

German Linguist

Peter Hugh Davis, 63, of Monroe, LA, November 22, 2006. He is survived by his wife, Charlene Shanas Davis of Monroe, LA and family. After the Army, he began his 34 year stint as a teacher at St. Fredrick High School.

Cortland S. Beers

2008-02-11T14:34:00.001-05:00

German Linguist

Cortland S. Beers, 59, of Lower Nazareth Twp. Died February 14, 2007, in his home after a nine-year battle with Multiple Sclerosis. He was the husband and best friend of Karen (Haefale) Beers. Following his return from Germany, he attended Bethlehem Business School. He worked in operations management in the trucking industry for many years, retiring in 1998 due to his disability.