Posted on 10/29/2018
David Longton
And may there be
no sadness of farewell,
When I embark;
For tho' from out our bourne
of Time and Place
The flood may bear me far,
I hope to see my Pilot face to face
When I have crost the bar.
~ Alfred Lord Tennyson
David Marshall Longton crossed the bar on September 23, 2018, after a voyage well sailed.
David was born on January 4, 1923 in Orange, NJ, to William and Helen Longton, the firstborn of four brothers. With the exception of a 2 year diversion to Long Beach, California, he grew up in New Jersey, graduating from Montclair High School. Due to the war, graduation for his Naval Academy class of '45 was accelerated to June 1944. Dave would spend the next year on the destroyer USS Capps in the Pacific Theatre. Missions included support operations for the battles of Leyte, Iwo Jima, and the invasion of Okinawa. Flight training commenced in Corpus Christi at war's end and a subsequent naval career as an aviator and test pilot continued until his retirement in 1965. Highlights included competing in the 1958 annual Naval Air Weapons meet where he received an award as the Navy's top rated all weather fighter pilot and participation in the 1962 Project High Jump, setting a new 6000 meter time-to-climb world record in the F4H Phantom II. He was subsequently awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. Dave spent 3 of his last 4 years in the Navy on the aircraft carrier USS Midway, serving as "air boss" during her 1963-64 WestPac deployment.
Dave married young chemist Geraldine Schatz in 1951, who accompanied him and their growing family back and forth across the country for the next 14 years. On retirement from the Navy he moved his family to Seattle where he began work for the Boeing Company in 1965. He retired from Boeing in 1988 and married Grace Pierce in 1991. Together they traveled extensively and relished the company of many good friends. Dave was a marvelous cook and greatly enjoyed gatherings with family or friends over shared meals.
A humble man, Dave never voluntarily spoke of past accomplishments. Though he might feign a gruff exterior to an unsuspecting newcomer, he was truly kind at his core and, while exacting, was a caring and generous father and grandfather.
Dave was preceded in death by his wife Grace, his daughter Anne Day, and his brothers William and Bruce. He is survived by his children Gary (and Mary Ann) Longton and Nancy (and George) Greer; grandchildren Rachel, Carl, and Madeleine; and brother, Edward.
Published in The Seattle Times on Oct. 28, 2018