Walter Curtis Pickett III

Walter Curtis Pickett, III
Virginia Beach - Walter Curtis Pickett, III, passed away June 3, 2013 in Richmond, Virginia.
Born June 29, 1937, in Orange, New Jersey to the late Walter C. Pickett, Jr., and the late Eleanor Williams Pickett , Walter grew up in Lake Mohawk, New Jersey where his deep love for boating, fishing and all things outdoors was nurtured. At age thirteen, he left for Blair Academy, graduating in 1955, and then to Brown University to major in American History, graduating in 1959. Having been accepted into the ROTC program at Brown, Walter joined the U.S. Navy as an Ensign assigned to a minesweeper squadron in Charleston, S.C. where his career began. His duty stations were many and varied to include earning a Masters' degree in International Relations from Boston University through the Naval War College as a LTJG, a specialty in Cryptology with the U.S. Navy Security Group, overseas tours in Japan, Morocco, England and Puerto Rico and submarine missions in the Pacific during the Vietnamese War. Walt was especially proud of earning his Dolphins as a qualified Submariner in 1968. After a tour with NATO and the NSA, Walter retired as a Commander in 1983 and settled in Virginia Beach with his wife, Joan, and his three children.
Walt and Joan met in a student-musical at Brown University in 1958 and shared a love of music over fifty three years of marriage. He sang with the Jabberwocks at Brown University for four years and was a member of the Kappa Sigma Fraternity. He and Joan sang with the choir at First Presbyterian Church where they are members. Walter opened his own company, Safe Harbour Realty, Inc., and operated it for seventeen years until his recent retirement. He was a loyal volunteer for the many sports teams his children played in over the years, as well as an interested party to many musical and theatrical organizations in the area.
He is survived by his wife, Joan Clement Pickett, and three children, Treven Curtis, his wife, Jaime, and their son Tristan, Seth Curtis, his wife, Nicole, and children, Taylor Kate and Brenden, and his daughter, Cameron Ruth, and her husband Scott Weber. He leaves also his brother, Russell Eugene Pickett, and his wife, Peggy, of Bigfork, Montana and their son, Rusty. Walt was much loved by Joan's sisters, Nancy (Bob) Richards, Barbette (David) Schafer, Susan (Steve) Schreurs and her brother, Bob (Nancy) Clement, all of their children and a very large extended family. We cannot leave out the many Scottish Terrier companions who as is their nature offered total loyalty and hilarity over the many years.
Burial will be on Friday, June 7, at 10 a.m. at the Albert G. Horton Jr. Memorial Veterans Cemetery. There will be a Memorial Service at First Presbyterian Church at noon on June 22, with Reverend Al Butzer presiding. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests a contribution to the Navy Safe Harbor Foundation, at www.safeharborfoundation.org. H.D. Oliver Funeral Apts., Laskin Rd. Chapel are handling arrangements. Online condolences may be sent to hdoliver.com
In Deo Speramus