During the mid- to late 1960s, Lou was still on active duty in the Navy. A Commander at the time, he was serving as the Executive Officer of the NROTC Unit at UC Berkeley where I was a Midshipman. 

Lou had access to a Lockheed T-33 at the Alameda Naval Air Station, and interested Midshipman were offered orientation rides after going through ejection seat and pressure chamber qualifications. Of course I seized the opportunity and Lou gave me my first hop in a Navy aircraft sometime during my junior year there. It was a simple orientation ride around the Bay Area and points afield that lasted about 1.5 hours. During my Navy active duty I had many flights of course, but that first flight with Lou will always stand out. 

Years later, about 2001 or 2002, I shared a couple of drinks with Lou at a Tailhook reunion in Reno. He was looking good and enjoying his business and life generally. I never saw Lou after that, so I'm glad that last memory was a good one.

By the way, Lou had an uncredited "supporting actor" role in a homemade movie (Launch 'Em) that is famous in Naval aviation circles. You can find Launch 'Em on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KVqb94Vja8 and other locations. Lou is the fellow sauntering across the flight deck about 7'30" into the movie, incurring the wrath of the carrier's captain. 

I think it was 1976 when I met Lou.   He was the dad of my girlfriend.  One could not find a more welcoming and accepting human being. For me, Lou was patriarch, flyer, sailor, mechanic, runner, and consultant.  I crewed with him on his Santana.  He was a fierce competitor and everytime we finished a race his family wondered if I had survived his intensity.  He was indefatigable. I remember one time racing with a National Champion who had been a physicist at Lawrence Livermore.  Lou was always looking to learn from anyone and anywhere, particularly when it came to sailing.   We enjoyed flights to the Nut tree and Reno and some runs. I remember having Sunday dinners and some trips up to the Union Hotel.  Lou had this commanding voice.  I remember Jane and Nancy imitating him.  Always in humor and always with a pride.  He surprised his family often.  He could tinker with a VW engine and make it work and of course, make his planes operate and sail.  In many  respects, he was a kind of archetypal American.  He had his Italian roots.  I gathered that his father was absent for him and yet when his father made it to town, he accepted him notwithstanding the estrangement.  His mother was a very strong willed person. She beamed when she talked about his Naval career. He suffered the loss of his first wife raising a family pretty much on his own.  He had a way of letting people do what they wanted. He was laissez faire with his kids. He loved family and I saw him begin a second family.  For him, the children were a continuum.  They were all part of him and family.  I saw him as a man's man.  He was a proud and patriotic American. He was practical, ingenius, independent, and open minded albeit he had his own opinions.  I remember being amazed listening to how while he was teaching ROTC at Berkeley, Jane was protesting the war in Vietnam with placards at their home.  In many ways at that time,I felt he was the father I never had.

 I only regret not learning to fly from him and letting other things get in the way of seeing him when  I returned to the Bay Area.