Dear Betsy, Ian and Shelby,
We were so saddened to learn of Dave's passing - our correspondence has been reduced to a yearly Christmas letter and we had no idea he was not well. We go way back to 1963 when both Dave and Hal were Naval Officers attending MIT graduate school for Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering. Dave and Jean soon became our close friends for the three years the men attended MIT - Dave and Hal studying 95% of the time (it seemed) and Jean and I passing time as young wives did is those days: shopping, sewing, cooking, etc. We spent most holidays together as our families were good distances away. And we spent many a vacation getaway together. The most memorable of those (to me) was when we went camping together up into Maine. Jean's only stipulation was that they spend every third night in a motel :). We all had borrowed equipment from Navy Special Services. One of the nights Dave and Jean spent in a motel was when we had a torrential downpour and we discovered that our tent was full of holes. They arrived at the site the next morning for breakfast, "bright eyed and bushy tailed", to find two very tired and soggy campers (I was seven months pregnant to boot) hanging everything out on branches to dry. Yep - they laughed, not a word of condolence - but at least cooked breakfast for us. As we forged further north up to Baxter State Park, we found a miles-out-of the way campsite, isolated on a lake with canoes available. On a connecting stream between two lakes, the men found they needed to grab the bow line on each canoe and drag the canoes (with Jean and me in them) through the shallow stream, "African Queen" style. Collapsing at the end of the trek, they discovered they were both covered with leeches and nearly freaked out.
D and J received Doug about the same time we had our first child, Marnie. I fondly remember Doug "sending" Marnie a dear little corsage for her first birthday - the Murtons did thoughtful things like that. Both families were able to keep each other well informed about succeeding children with their heartaches and accomplishments.
We sadly went our separate ways to duty stations a great distance apart at graduation. Hal and Dave had become such close friends that they both shed tears at their parting. Since we stayed on the east coast, Dave's eventual tour at the Naval Academy gave us another opportunity to get together for hugs and conversation. We were fortunate to keep close contact over the years and when our son was going to school in California, we were able to visit them a couple times in La Mesa and spend a few days in their home.
Thank you for the great pictures of the two of them - oh those smiles!! Our hearts are heavy but we're grateful for wonderful memories and thank the Lord for such wonderful friends. God bless you and your families - you have a wonderful heritage.
Love and blessings,
Mary & Hal Moore
P.S. Our contact information should be in your Dad's address file. I will look for any pictures we still have of your folks (we have sent some to them in the past) to scan for you.
