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Obituary (MD): Robert Edward Stark '43

Posted on 01/21/2019

Captain Robert E. Stark, USN (ret) died January 13, 2019. Captain Stark was born in Garfield, N.J. on 9 May 1921, the son of Joseph E. Stark and Edith Stewart Stark. He attended Bergen Junior College 1937-1938. He enlisted in the Navy in 1938, was awarded a Congressional appointment to the U. S. Naval Academy in 1939 and graduated with the accelerated class of 1943 in June of 1942. He was promoted to Captain in 1962 and retired in 1968. He served for three years on the USS PHILADELPHIA (CL41), which provided gunfire support in five separate amphibious landings in Africa and the Mediterranean during World War II. The ship was awarded five battle stars and the Navy Unit Citation. He was awarded the SECNAV Letter of Commendation with Combat V. After the war, he attended Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he was awarded a Master of Science Degree in 1948. He was designated an Engineering Duty Officer and was subsequently assigned to duty in Brooklyn and Philadelphia Naval Shipyards, the David Taylor Model Basin, the Bureau of Ships, the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His principal duties were in the design of destroyers and aircraft carriers. Following his retirement, he continued his specialty in ship design with M. Rosenblatt and Son where he was appointed Vice President. In 1972 he joined Gibbs and Cox, Inc. where for ten years he was project manager for design of the OLIVER HAZARD PERRY (FFG7) Class. He was appointed Vice President in 1979. For two years prior to his retirement from Gibbs and Cox in 1986, he was Project Manager for design of the USS ARLEIGH BURKE (DDG51). He was an active member of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers where he served as Chairman of the Scholarships Committee for twenty-two years and was made an Honorary Vice President of the Society for Life. He was a licensed professional Engineer in the state of New York. He was a member of the Sons of the American Revolution, Navy League of the U.S., Free and Accepted Masons, American Legion, and Military Officers Association. He is survived by: his brother, Richard, of New Jersey; his wife of 68 years, Grace, of Annapolis; daughter Nancy, of Massachusetts; sons David, of Maryland and Jon of Massachusetts; and five grandchildren. A memorial service will be held at Ginger Cove on 26 January 2019 at 2 PM. A private entombment will be held at the U.S. Naval Academy Columbarium at a later date.

Published in The Capital Gazette on Jan. 20, 2019