Posted on 08/19/2019
Captain Stanley B. Neander USN (Ret) passed away at home on August 4, 2019 in Salem, OR. He was 92 years old. Born in Wenatchee, WA, March 29, 1927, Stan was raised and attended schools in Portland, OR. During the summers of 1943 and 1944, Stan worked as a journeyman burner for the OR Shipbuilding Corp in Portland building Liberty and Victory cargo ships for the WWII effort. After receiving an Alternate Congressional appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy in 1944, Stan enlisted in the U.S. Navy in September of that year. He was given orders to the U.S. Naval Academy Preparatory School (NAPS) in Bainbridge, Maryland where he passed the Regular Entrance Exams to the Academy in April 1945. After WWII, Stan received an Honorable Discharge from the Navy and attended Oregon State College in Corvallis, OR until he entered the Naval Academy in June 1946 with a Congressional Principal Appointment from Oregon. Stan was a varsity football player and as a member of the 35th Company, he graduated with his class in June 1950.
Upon graduation, Stan was assigned as a Gunnery Division Officer on the heavy cruiser U.S.S. St. Paul (CA-73). During the Korean War, Stan was a director officer for the five inch gun batteries. He participated in numerous combat actions with hostile forces. After Submarine School in 1952, Stan's duty assignments included the submarines Scabbardfish, Diodon, and Sterlet, submarine staff duties as the Engineer/Material Officer for Submarine Squadron One in Hawaii, and as the Chief Staff Officer for Submarine Squadron Three in San Diego. He was a NROTC Instructor at the University of Washington in Seattle, WA for two years. His two tours in the Pentagon were with the Submarine Warfare and Systems Analysis Divisions for the Chief of Naval Operations. He, also, attended the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island. While at the Naval War College, Stan received his MA Degree in International Affairs from George Washington University. He commanded the submarine U.S.S. Clamagore (SS-343) in New London, Connecticut and Submarine Division Thirty-Two in San Diego, CA. His last tour of duty was as Commanding Officer of the Naval Ordnance Engineering Facility in Bangor, WA.
After retirement in 1975, Stan worked twelve years for Systems Exploration, Inc. in San Diego as a Senior Operations Analyst/Engineer in Navy Command, Control, Communications, and Surveillance Systems, including War Gaming of alternative Systems. He was active for many years in the San Diego Chapter of the Naval Submarine League and enjoyed life with travel, family reunions, and golf. Stan was married to the former June Pickett of Ely, MN for over 49 years before she passed away in 2007. They had two children, Debbie (Larrey) Owens of Salem, OR and David (Julia) of Seattle, WA. Both children survive him, as do his four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
After June's death, Stan reconnected with an old friend, Judy Browder. They spent the next eleven years sharing life and traveling the world. He was a beloved "Stanpa" to Judy's children and grandchildren.
Memorial services with full military honors and interment with June in the Columbarium at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery in San Diego will be conducted at a later date.
Published in StatesmanJournal on Aug. 18, 2019