Jack Eady

Jack A. Eady VIRGINIA BEACH - Retired U.S. Navy Capt. Jack Alfred Eady, 94, died Jan. 7, 2009, in Seaside Nursing Home at Atlantic Shores. Jack was born Oct. 29, 1914, in Washington, D.C., to Anna and Percival Eady. He graduated from Overbrook High School in Philadelphia in 1933 and attended The University of Richmond. In 1936, he joined the Navy as an aviation cadet and was assigned to Pensacola, Fla., where he received his aviator wings. During World War II, he flew liberators in the South Pacific as a member of Fleet Air Photographic Squadron One (VD-1), earning the Distinguished Flying Cross and then as commanding officer of Squadron Three (VD-3). He served as commanding officer of the Naval Photographic Center in Anacostia, on NATO staff in Malta, on the staff of the Naval War College in Newport, R.I., and finished his 26-year Navy career in Antarctica, where the Eady Ice Piedmont near the Ross Ice Shelf is named for him. His 66-year marriage to Margaret Hudgins of Princess Anne County began in 1939 after he realized she enjoyed spending time with him on his small sailboat. They made homes in 11 locations around the world before retiring to Virginia Beach in 1962. Over the years, they sailed all along the Atlantic Coast and Chesapeake Bay as well as to Bermuda, the Bahamas and Martinique in his sailboats. He was a ham radio operator and participated each year in Clean the Bay Day. In 1966, he served as president of the Birdneck Point Community League, of which he was a longstanding member. His devoted care of his wife for the 10 years she struggled with Alzheimer's was inspirational. He is survived by his sister, Dot MacFarland of Guilford, Conn.; daughter, Jackie Eady Alcorn of Virginia Beach; four grandchildren, Kathy Greisen of Kenmore, Wash., Ginger Wells of El Paso, Texas, Lt. Cmdr. Everett Alcorn Jr. of Bremerton, Wash., and Edie Alcorn of Manassas, Va.; plus seven great-grandchildren. At his request, his body has been donated to science through the Anatomical Division of the Virginia State Department of Health. In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to the Virginia Beach Rescue Squad or WHRO.