John Dale Pye Hodapp Jr., Commander

John was born Feb. 4, 1917, in Manila, Philippines, to John and Lenore (Marsh) Hodapp. He married Clara Freiheit in Honolulu, Hawaii in 1941; she died in 1974. He then married Alexandra Grieco in San Francisco in 1975. After graduating from the Naval Academy in 1939, Commander J.D.P. Hodapp Jr. served his nation at sea during and after the Second World War. He was a Pearl Harbor survivor and served on the USS Lexington, the USS Farragut, the USS Abner Read, the USS Irwin (as executive officer) the USS Lofberg (as commanding officer) the USS Hector (executive and commanding officer) and on the USS Bremerton (operations officer). He also was Staff Code Plans Officer of the Commander Amphibious Force, Atlantic Fleet. After the war, his shore duty included Associate Professor of Naval Science in the US NROTC Unit at the University of California, Berkeley. In the early 1950s, he was commanding officer of the U.S. Naval Ammunition Depot at Indian Island, Wash. He was the U.S. Naval Advisor at the National Defense College, Republic of China, Taipei, Taiwan from 1956-58. He had additional duty as assistant naval attaché on Staff of the U.S. Ambassador, Taiwan. He returned to California to the Office of Supervising Inspector of Naval Materiel at Treasure Island. After a long and distinguished career, John Dale retired from the U.S. Navy in 1960. He ¬was awarded the Bronze Star and Navy Commendation Medals (both with Combat Distinguishing device) and Navy Unit Commendation during World War II. He was awarded Secretary of the Army Commendation Ribbon by Chief MAAG, Taiwan, in 1958. His civilian occupations included being administrative assistant to the dean, St. Mark's Cathedral, Seattle, followed by serving as literary assistant and technical adviser to the author C.S. Forester ("Horatio Hornblower") in Berkeley, Calif. Lastly, he became an underwriter for the California State Automobile Association before he retired in 1976. He was president of the U.S. Naval Academy Alumni Association of San Francisco and also president of the Rotary International in Port Townsend, Wash. He was active in Rotary in Taipei, Taiwan, and Berkeley and Chico, Calif.; and belonged to the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association and other veteran groups. He also was a member of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and the San Francisco Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons. - See more at: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/greatfallstribune/obituary.aspx?n=...