Death of a Classmate - CDR. John Frederick Lyding USN(Ret) - 20th Co.

CDR.   John Frederick    Lyding   USN(Ret) died 25 January 2019.  John was raised   in Hawthorne    NJ. along   the Passaic river.  After high school. John   enlisted in the  Marines, and   survived    rigorous Parris Island boot  camp    and became  a  Marine.   He was selected by the Marine Corps to attend the Naval Academy Preparatory School  (NAPS) At  NAPS    he passed high  enough      the  annual   regular  competitive examination given  to  all  NAPS  enlisted  men, and     received  an  appointment  to the academy  from  the Secretary  of the  Navy.  John was in the  20th  Company  and  lived in  the Fourth   Wing of  Bancroft  Hall.  Upon  graduation  he was  appointed an Ensign  USN.  After   a  four years   wait the day after  graduation John married Evelyn  Telford on   5 June 1954. They headed for Key West FL for John’s    first sea tour on SARSFIELD (EDD -837)  After completing officer basic  submarine  school,    the Lydings retuned to Key West where John was assigned to TRUTTTA (SS-421) Next the family moved to Norfolk where John was the  combat cargo officer on   SEA LION (APSS-315 ).  

When that ship was decommissioned,   John transferred    to San  Francisco as executive  officer of the training crew  of the Argentine submarine,  Santa  Fe (S-111) .

In 1962 John received a  BS EE  degree from  the Naval

Post   Graduate  School  Monterey  CA; then the family  moved   to   New  London  CT,  and   SEA  ROBIN  (SS407)   In  August    1963 , after    one  month

as  Executive  Officer   of  BELENNY   (SS-324),  John  was  injured    in  a fall   and  was  given  “light  duty” and  became an    instructor  in  the    Advanced  Tactics  department   of  submarine  school.   Back  to  SEA  ROBIN in  1964    this  time as

Executive  Officer. The   Lydings   in  1966  found   themselves   in   Northwood,  England   for three  wonderful  years  with CINCUSNAVEUR.  Afterwards      they  returned  to  the  USA for  a retirement  tour   at the  Office of  Naval  Research, and  John  retired on 1 November   1971.   He  earned an  Masters of     Public  Administration  from   American  University  in  1972,  and  became  Director,  Special  Projects Division of   Santa  Fe   Corporation  in  Alexandria VA.

The   Lyding celebrated 25 years  of wedded    bliss in  1979  at a party  given by their  children.   Johns  true   love  of  his  life   Evelyn  predeceased  him  in  2012.

John   is survived  by  3   daughters  Karen   Elizabeth,   Leslie  Ann, Kim, and   son   John    Jr. and  8  grandchildren.

 Ed Tipshus