Ronald William VanLuven

I served with Ron on the USS Howard W. Gilmore in Shop 38, Submarine Repair. I saw your brother, Wesley, right after he was born, and I left the Navy several weeks later. We lost touch with each other, but I finally found him on the internet and reunited with him at the Gilmore reunion in Wilmington, NC in 2021. We have kept in touch by phone and internet ever since. When I called to ask him if he was going to the Gilmore Get-Together in Charleston, he told me he was terminally ill and asked me to call him regularly as he didn't have much time left. That is the last time I got to talk with him as I could never get an answer when I called. We just got back from the get-together, tried to call and then I checked the internet and found that he had passed away within days of our last call. My wife, Pat, and I are so very sorry and send our sympathy to all of you. We are so very glad we got the chance to reunite with him and Jessie and reminisce about our Navy years. May God bless them and your family.

Charles Shaw, Fogelsville, PA.