JOHN D.H. KANE Jr.

JOHN D.H. KANE, JR.  Rear Adm., U.S. Navy (Ret.)  July 3, 1921 - August 6, 2013  
Of McLean, Virginia, died August 6, 2013, at Sunrise-Foxhill, Bethesda, Maryland, where he has lived since 2010. John Dandridge Henley Kane, Jr., was born in Newport, RI, the son of Cordelia Pringle Kane and Capt. John D.H. Kane of the U.S. Navy. He descended from a long line of Naval officers, dating to his namesake, John Dandridge Henley, who was appointed to the Naval Academy by George Washington in 1799. After graduating from St. George's School in Newport, he followed his ancestors into service, beginning with his appointment to the U. S. Naval Academy in 1938. He graduated in 1941, on an accelerated schedule for World War II. He saw combat in the Pacific, serving as executive officer of the USS Charles J. Badger in 1945 and receiving the Bronze Star Medal with Combat "V" for "heroic achievement" against Japanese forces off Okinawa. Assigned to Germany as an intelligence officer after the war, he worked under cover as a musicologist from Dar es Salaam, debriefing German prisoners of war returning from the Soviet Union. Subsequent assignments took him to England and France, where, in 1965, he commanded the USS Springfield, flagship of the Sixth Fleet, in Villefranche Sur Mer, France. He was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal for his tenure as Director of the Officer Distribution Division in Washington, DC from 1967 to 1969. He was later Deputy United States Representative to the NATO Military Committee in Brussels, Belgium. Prior to retiring in 1974, he was Commandant to the Ninth Naval District and Commander Naval Base, Great Lakes, Illinois, for which he was awarded a Gold Star in lieu of the Second Legion of Merit. He was recalled to active duty in 1976 as Director, Naval Historical Center and Director of Naval History, a position he held until 1985. He was a member of the Chevy Chase Club, the Alibi Club, the Alfalfa Club, and the Metropolitan Club. He was a president of the Metropolitan Club. He was married to the former Suzanne Pattinson of Pasadena, California, until her death in 1998. Surviving are three children, John D. H. Kane III of Huntingtown, Maryland, Joel P. P. Kane of McLean and Suzanne Poole of McLean; six grandchildren and one great-granddaughter. Funeral arrangements Simple Tribute Funeral and Cremation Center, Rockville, Maryland. A private burial service is planned at the U.S. Naval Academy Cemetery in Annapolis.