Not much news here, though I have finally managed to make contact with Charles Hansford Kendall’s family, who very kindly answered my questions about him. From what they told me, it now seems highly unlikely to me that Kendall was the Navy balloonist I’ve been seeking, so my search continues.
Robert Henry (“Bob”) Howe USNR
Kendall aside, the only other NAS Lakehurst Navy man I’ve found who died around the period of interest was Robert Henry Howe. The Princeton Alumni Weekly reported:
ROBERT H. HOWE ’23
It seems almost unbelievable that we are reporting the death of Bob Howe who was killed in an automobile crash August 24 [1947]. The accident happened near Utica, N.Y. while Bob with his wife and son, Richard, were on the way to the Adirondacks for their vacation.
Bob was commissioned in the Naval Air Corps in June 1942 as a lieutenant. He had served as a navigation instructor in Norfolk and at the time of his death was a Lt. Comdr. at Lakehurst, where he was instructing.
Prior to his entry into the service, he was in the jewelry and wholesale silver business. During the war his son, Robert H., Jr. died in the service when his Marine Corps plane crashed at Jacksonville, Florida.
Bob could be found at all reunions and those who were back last June will always remember his ready smile. Reunions just won’t seem the same without Bob and the class has lost a most loyal classmate.
He is survived by his widow, Priscilla M.; two sons, Charles M. and Richard B.; his father, Charles H.; a sister, Mrs Carol H. Newell; and his maternal grandmother, Mrs. Carrie W. Ostrander.
The class extends its sincere sympathy to the family in their great sorrow.
For the Class of 1923
H. GATES LLOYD, President
JOHN E. SPENCE, Secretary
If anyone has paywalled access to old newspaper sites, can I please ask if you would have a quick look to see if Howe’s death on 24th August 1947 was reported there? I looked on NYS Historic Newspapers (one of my favourite free newspaper sites), but it seemed to have nothing from Oneida County for that month, alas.
Dennis Gilliam, pressure suit historian
I’ve also found myself stymied looking for contact details for the pressure suit historian Dennis Gilliam. He used to work for “Orbital Outfitters” (surely a play on Urban Outfitters, right?), the spacesuit company whose contract with Elon Musk famously specified that the space suits should look “badass”.
I’d like to talk with Gilliam about the US Navy’s Strato Model 7 full pressure suit (designed by John D. Akerman at his Strato Equipment Company in Minneapolis). There’s a load of stuff in the John D. Akerman Collection at the University of Minneapolis, which I’m sure Gilliam will have gone through.
However, now that OO is defunct, Dennis Gilliam also seems to have disappeared from view. Can I please ask anyone with better online sleuthing skills than me to please try to find his contact details and pass them to me? Thanks!
Dennis Gilliam still has a profile on LinkedIn listed as a Program Manager for Orbital Outfitters.
NP: Princeton Alumni Weekly June 6th 1947 has a column on Bob Howe if you haven’t found it yet. Bit of added detail plus home address that may put you on the trail of his jewelry store and lost silver mine.
…Obit’s in there amongst the clutter and likely high lighted..saw part of it on the header but busy prepping for tropical downpour..good hunting and all that.
Sure to get something out of the Post Standard / Herald Journal or the Onondaga Historical…H. J. Howe Jewellers were top of the heap in Syracuse when Bob was foaled there 9 Aug. 1901 and his dad Chuck ran the show from 1916 to ’39 when the company was sold to shareholders. Must be heaps of stuff out there waiting for decemination but we can’t help Nick, unless we’re brought up to speed on what you reckon went down at Lakehurst field apart from the Hindenberg.
John Sanders: all it comes down to is that you don’t normally have a balloon accident without a balloonist accident. So the ‘smoking gun’ I’m trying to find is the Navy balloonist, it’s that simple.
The rest of the story dovetails nicely with balloon history, but without yer ackshual balloonist, it’s just speculation, alas.
NP: I see what you’re on about now, it was reported as an accident and not mishap or crashlanding as an unmanned downing would have merited. Never gave it any thought before but, in saying that the US military are renowned for their use of inappropriate descriptive terms for happenings. Perhaps newspapers were inclined to quote them directly rather than question a commanders poor choice of words. Toss up for mine!
Fred Brandes: thanks, I’ll try that, though the fact it only follows a single defunct company doesn’t fill me with hope. :-/
I searched Newspapers.com, and did not find anything for Oneida, or anywhere for all of 1947 under the search term “Robert Henry Howe”. I found a grave there for him, though I am guessing you want an obit for his info.
Matt