Class Notes

1946
Dr. Barclay Shepard tends the helm on the Bowdoin cruise during Homecoming 2023 festivities. Dr. Barclay’s chief mate is Tom Lord ’87.
1956
Stuart Kilbride proudly poses with his U.S. Navy uniform he donated for display at Our Heroes Military Museum of Lincoln, Maine. Thank you, Stuart.
1958
A small, but dedicated, group returned for their 65th reunion this past July. Pictured are Frank Tepedino, Everett Cooper and George Richardson.
1960
Charlie Briggs (2nd from left) renewed acquaintance with Dick Borges ’65 after 55 years. The two reunited at a Theatre Organ concert at the Auditorium Theater in Rochester, N.Y., last November. Briggs reports they had a wonderful brunch and concert.
1962
Norman Laskey writes, “Since our 2022 reunion I’ve continued to be involved in education. We learned so much at MMA and in our careers, we should pass on as much as we can. I continue to write a monthly blog. Over the last three years I’ve often written on the technological changes in the industry, mostly involving alternate fuels and means of reducing greenhouse gas, and thought on how these changes will affect vessel values. After returning from Castine I did a 1.5-hour webinar on ship valuation to an international audience reported to be over 200 people. Continuing with virtual presentations at the end of this September, I gave a two-day class on the same subject. MMA taught us a lot, but not about wrestling with Zoom. As a fictional character has said, ‘It is good to exercise the little gray cells.’”
1964
Class Agent Larry Wade sent the following: “Paul Manning ’64, Bob Chiarello ’62, and Perry Mattson ’64 enjoyed a Dennett’s Wharf evening in Castine!”
1964
Classmates met for lunch in April 2023 at Sea Dog Brewery in Bangor. Getting together were Nancy and Gene Silva, Houston, Tex., Lois and Charlie Weeks, Hampden, Maine, and Deanna and Larry Wade, Bradley, Maine.
1965
Clyde Ricker wrote, “My friend Donna and I visited the MMA campus on July 10–13. We, the class of 65, have a mini muster each year. This was the second year and we had 19 grads show up. I got a personal tour . . . and was most impressed with the facilities and various programs that are now available. I was very proud to be an alumnus and was wishing I was 19 again so I could attend one more time. The changes that have been made and the growth that has happened is remarkable in a very good way. I encourage all alumni to visit and experience the MMA of today.”
1966
From the left, classmates Russ Kniehl, Dan Mari, and Sky Woods recently dined at Robinson’s Wharf in Southpoint, Maine. They were joined on the phone by Dave Clifford, Rick Judd, and Bob Gaffney.
1966
John R. Demaree writes: I just read your latest email update on Academy affairs. I grew up in Berwick, Pa., and graduated from MMA in June of 1966. After over six years on Grace line ships, I successfully completed the exam for a USCG Chief Engineer’s license. I subsequently retired from Grace line to pursue a career ashore. Along with Pete Boyce, a fellow ’66 engineering grad, we bought a few acres of waterfront land in Lubec.

Life in Lubec was great, but a little quiet for us. My family moved to Fulton, N.Y., and I became an engineer for Miller Brewing’s new Fulton brewery. It was a lot of fun but after six years I accepted the position of Manager of Corporate Utilities at Campbell Soup company with 65 facilities around the world.

Twenty years later I retired to Brackney, Pa., a mile south of the N.Y. border at Binghamton. My ancestor bought a 50-acre plot of land here in 1850 and the Demarees have been here ever since.

I do not think that there is any better education available than one obtained at the Academy! I do not get to visit the Academy as much as I used to, but certainly enjoy all the emails like yours as they come along! Thank you!

1971
Capt. Curt Nehring ’71 writes: Greetings from the “Shaky Side.” In 2005 I joined the Columbia River Bar Pilots and am piloting ships up and down the Columbia River. This photo shows the Katie passing under the Astoria-Megler Bridge between Oregon and Washington. Bridge clearance is 205 feet at the center span. The Katie (1250 ft LOA, 159 ft beam, 140,000 dwt, and capable of carrying 14,000 TEUs) became the largest cargo vessel to transit the Columbia River. I was the lead pilot for this operation. We usually have two pilots working a vessel, but for this ship we actually had three. It’s not uncommon to have another pilot observing when you have a vessel out of the ordinary.

I was active-duty Navy from 1971 to 1973, then went to sea with MSCPAC, 76-2005 with American Maritime Officers-MEBA 2 (AMO) where I sailed Master for 25 years, first with Point Shipping, then Ocean Ships out of Houston. In ’85–’86 I was Delivery Master for the T-5 project, delivering five $85 million clean product tankers for the US Navy/MSC. The ships replaced the old T-5 USNS Shoshone class. Upon completion, at age 37, I became the youngest delivery master to deliver an entire three or more vessel class since WWI (according to a U.S. Navy press release). From 1986 to 2005 I served as Senior Master for Ocean Ships.

Good Lord willing and the creek don’t rise, I plan to continue for another three or so years before I hang up the spurs.
1974
Gary Walker informed us he is semi-retired and “still vertical,” living in Albion, ME.
1976
Class Agent David Witherill passes along the following: “Happy to report that we had 18 classmates gather at the Harraseeket Yacht Club in South Freeport, Maine, on Thursday, June 22. The weather cooperated, which is not to be taken for granted this June, and 15 of us enjoyed a sail on Casco Bay aboard Bill Full’s J-105, Jeff Wadman’s (class of ’74) Beneteau, and my Sabre 34.”
1979
Ron Richards and Tom Quartuccio get together at a Myrtle Beach, S.C., travel park.
1980
Russell Johansen let us know that he is retired and lives in Gettysburg, Pa.
1980
Members from the class of 1980 gathered to attend a memorial service for shipmate Robert ‘Eli’ Whitney ’80. Pictured (l to r) are Franz “FJ” Ritt ’83, Pat Kilty ’82, John Lord ’80, Lynden “Elfman” Kibler ’85, Dana “Tuna” Petersen ’80, Bob Tarrant ’81, Jim Shirley ’87 and Chris Von Hohenleiten ’79. Missing from the photo, Ken Zeghibe ’80.
1982
Capt. John Gazzola emailed, “Here’s a great photo that was recently taken in Portland during a sales trip of mine. Pictured l to r, Danny Profenno, Dan Legere, Captain John Gazzola, and Captain Steve Russell, all class of 1982.” Thanks, Captain!
1983
JT Hall and Dan Rideout (senior year roommates) continue to have an almost annual reunion. This year, it was at Hall’s family home on Morse Island near Friendship, Maine. Hall took the cribbage trophy, Rideout the horseshoe crown. Hall, recently retired, lives in New Hampshire with his wife, Noreen. Rideout is still teaching middle school students with special needs, and lives in Oregon with his wife, Heather.
1984
T/S State of Maine arrived in Castine after a 74-day international voyage, marking the final voyage for Chief Engineer Clifford “Sandy” Cameron. This comment from a Maine Maritime Academy student demonstrates the impact he has made at the Academy: “I was part of a group when I was on watch one day . . . and was able to work with Chief Cameron. It was one of the turning points that made me want to become an engineer. Thanks, Chief. Enjoy the next chapter.”
1984
Dave Melin and wife, Kathryn, hosted incoming MMA freshmen from the state of Wash. (there are six) for a casual backyard BBQ over the summer. Classmate Dave Hopkins (left) attended and “helped a ton!”

1985
Captain Sherri Hickman (back) reported in August, “I just returned from England where I attended a ship-handling course in Warsash. The gal in the photo with me has been a pilot for 9 years in Houston. (I’ve been there 29 years now.)”
1987
Hugh Tillman recently came out of retirement, joining Hawaiian Airlines to fly the Airbus 330 on their international routes to Korea, Samoa, Japan, Australia, New York, and Boston. He and his wife, Lainie, reside in Kailua, Hawaii.
1987
Shashi N. Kumar reports he is still MARAD’s first Deputy Associate Administrator and National Coordinator of Maritime Education and Training. Kumar earned his BS from the Indian Maritime Academy and his MS at MMA where he stayed on as an asst. prof. He was founding dean of the Loeb Sullivan School of International Business and Logistics and a professor emeritus. Kumar earned a PhD from the University of Wales, UK, and has held visiting professorships at several universities. Kumar was chief academic officer at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy where he also served as Interim Superintendent. He was a Fulbright Senior Specialist assigned to the Republic of Ireland in 2012.
1988
Bill Follett reports, “I am excited for my new role within Ocean Winds as the Technical Director for the Bluepoint Wind. I appreciate the opportunity to work with yet another great team of talented professionals as we continue to work to deliver offshore wind to the U.S. east coast.”
1989
Mario Pantoja (r), general manager of Venezuelan Marketing for Chevron Exploration and Production, stands with John Morris, MMA ’82, who is joining the Chevron Venezuela marketing team responsible for trading and exports of heavy crude oil to U.S. refineries and managing a fleet of 12 Aframax tankers.
1990
Shortly after graduation, David Petroccelli was a volunteer in water rescue which led to a career in the fire service. Hired as a firefighter by the Portland Fire Department in May 1995, he had the opportunity to cover shifts on the city’s fire boat for many years when one of the assigned crew was on vacation. Also at that time he worked as a launch operator, a yacht club manager, a marina dockmaster, and now a boatyard/shipyard safety coordinator. In 2014, he was promoted to captain and assigned to the department’s Fire Prevention Bureau. He spent time as the company captain at Ladder Co. 4 in North Deering, and then Ladder Co. 6 at Bramhall, before a promotion in December 2020 and assignment to the fire department’s Air Rescue Division.
1990
Akio Utsumi is a civilian human resource officer for the U.S. Marine Corps Combined Arms Training Center, Camp Fuji, Japan.
1992
William Scott is the managing director, Africa for Tidewater Marine International, Inc., and lives in Danforth, Maine.
1993
John McDonald has been elected president of ABS. McDonald has served as Exec. VP and COO of the company since July 2021. As president he will remain the COO of the company and join the ABS Board of Directors. McDonald joined ABS in 1996, and in addition to his MMA BS in engineering has an MBA from Texas A&M Univ.
1994
The team of Nathan Chubet ’94 and Adam Doncet ’98 completed a two-person relay in the Swim Across the Sound, representing Wallingford Energy. In the process, they set a new course record for the corporate division. The Swim Across the Sound is a 15.5 mile swim from Port Jefferson, N.Y. to Bridgeport, Conn. that raises funds for St Vincent Hospital Cancer patients. Well done, gentlemen.
1994
Matthew Zardeskas started a new position as the senior program analyst on the Joint Staff J35 Global Force Management and is still living in Chesapeake, Va.
1995
Entering his 17th year as a full-time member of the San Antonio Fire Department, Brian Deschenes was promoted to the rank of lieutenant. He spent the last 14+ years as a member of the department’s Technical Rescue Team. He currently serves as a company officer on one of the city’s 85 fire apparatus and is the commander of the San Antonio Fire Fighters Honor Guard.
1996
Alexander Wood was engineer aboard the Staten Island Ferry as the crew sprang into action when the ferry Sandy Ground caught fire during an evening commute in late December 2022. In April 2023, the Marine Engineers Beneficial Association (MEBA), which represents many of the Staten Island Ferry’s crew members, formally recognized them for their heroic, live-saving actions with an award ceremony to honor the 16 brave people who successfully evacuated nearly 900 passengers from the Sandy Ground after the fire broke out in the engine room. Great job, Alex and crew!
1998
MMA welcomes Seth Brown back to campus as a new Major Gifts Officer within the Advancement Division.
1998
Aaron Coy has been named the chief engineer of the T/S State of Maine, succeeding Sandy Cameron ’84, who retired recently. Coy will be in main control to welcome the new National Security Multi-mission Ship State of Maine V that is due to arrive in Castine in fall of 2024.
1999
In July, Rob Cody started a new job as project manager for Versant Power.
2000
Captain Gordon “Mac” MacArthur ’00, Master of T/S State of Maine, conferred the degree to his daughter Elisabeth MacArthur, left, at May 2023 commencement ceremonies. Elisabeth graduated magna cum laude with a degree in international business and logistics.
2005
Jessica Rowe Ward sailed for 4-1/2 years, then worked for ABS for 11 years. She went to the U.S. Coast Guard in 2019 as marine inspector and accepted the position as the senior investigating officer with the U.S. Coast Guard Sector Detroit in 2022. She lives with her husband of nearly 14 years, 2 sons and dog. Writes Ward, “Picture is of my oldest son, Jackson, receiving an award from the Lyon Township Fire Department for getting his brother safely out of the house and alerting his dad to the house filling with smoke. He saved his life, his brother’s life, and our house that day.”
2007
Captain Molly Eddy, who has served as assistant harbormaster for Rockland for the past year, has been appointed the harbormaster. She worked as dockmaster for Journey’s End Marina in Rockland. She owns her own business, Saltwater Maritime/Eddy Maritime Services. She has earned her master license for 1,600-ton vessels.
2011
Shaun Michaud is a supply chain accounts manager for Schneider Trucking and resides in Gloucester, Maine.
2012
Josh Shaw sends a note: “Living in League City, Tex. In 2022, I took over as Texas Chapter Alumni President. I’m also still serving as the 2012 Class Agent. Any 2012 alumni who would like to get involved as a class agent, please feel free to reach out to me. I’d be happy to have the help, as we can have more than one class agent. I now work on a vessel contracted to the DoD requiring me to obtain and maintain a high-level clearance. Lastly, I married Chelsea R. Salisbury in Rockport, Maine, on 9/2/23.”
2013
Since graduation in 2013, Paul Campbell has worked for ConocoPhillips and their Polar Tankers fleet. Sailing as 3rd A/E for four years, he met his now-wife, Samantha, at sea and soon after settled in Hermon, Maine. As their family grew, he accepted a shoreside position providing electrical and control systems support for Polar Tankers. The family relocated to Bellingham, Wash., in 2018 to be closer to the ships. They enjoy camping, mountain biking, and exploring the Pacific Northwest while homeschooling their three children. Though he misses Maine, he is especially grateful to work with many talented MMA alumni, who make the Polar Tankers fleet feel a bit like home.
2013
Ethan Dublin started a new position as senior principal product engineer, controller and I/O for the global technology, software and engineering powerhouse Emerson Automation Solutions in Round Rock, Tex.
2015
Juergen Pilot is construction manager for Avangrid Renewables, LLC, building America’s clean and connected energy future.
2016
Eric Cressey is facilities manager for MaineHealth in Biddeford. He and wife, Emma, live in Saco.
2017
Lauren McKenna Radcliffe is working for Muscongus Bay Aquaculture, Inc. She and husband, Zachary ’16, live in Durham, Maine.
2018
Austin Cressey is a senior field service engineer for MAN Energy Solutions. Cressey lives in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
2018
Caleb Tipton enters his 11th season coaching basketball and joins the Fort Scott (Kans.) Community College Greyhounds for his first season as an assistant coach. At MMA, Tipton served as a student assistant basketball coach from 2014 to 2018. Upon graduation, Coach Tipton received the prestigious Phyllis Tenney Award for his outstanding leadership and community service contributions. After leaving MMA, Coach Tipton served three years as a boys varsity basketball assistant coach and head boys freshman basketball coach for the Rams of Bangor, Maine. While in Bangor, Coach Tipton also served as the school’s varsity assistant golf coach.

In January 2023, Coach Tipton received his Masters of Science degree in Sports Management from Southern New Hampshire University and graduated with magna cum laude honors.
2021
Mackenzie Philbrick is a logistics and operations associate for Arrow Electronics and lives in Phoenix, Ariz.
2021
Samantha Mason is a project manager at Bath Iron Works and lives in Portland. She recently became the class agent for 2021.