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John McCawley MM2


John McCawley 1951


John McCawley 2003

 
I was sworn in to the Navy on March 14th, 1951 in Los Angeles, CA. Immediately after swearing in I was transported to  San Diego, CA,where I attended Boot Camp.  Upon completion of Boot Camp, I was sent
 to MMA school at Great Lakes, Ill. After graduation from MMA school, I boarded the USS Whitehurst (DE634) on  10/5/1951.  I put in for transfer and was sent to Kodiak, Alaska where I spent the next 16 1/2 months (dates not remembered).  Returning from Kodiak, was assigned to the USS Cockrell  (DE366), which was a steam turbine drive (Whitehurst was a turbo electric drive) with rate of MM2, and we operated out of San Diego, CA. While still in the Navy, I married my sweetheart Shirley Lockie in 1954, and brought her to San Diego to live. I was discharged from San Diego on March 2nd, 1955.
 
I worked in the family business repairing portable electric tools from 1955 to 1959, at which time I joined the Pasadena Fire Department. I spent the next 27 years with the Fire Department, working up through the ranks, and in 1986 I retired with rank of Captain II (Fire Marshal), and haven't worked a day since.
 
Shirley and I had two wonderful children, and were married almost 49 years when she passed away in 2003. In 1955 we had a son John Michael who gave us two wonderful grand children. John Michael passed away in 1999 at the age of 43. In 1959 we had a daughter Barbara Lyn, who is a wonderful mother of one son, giving me three grand children. My only grand daughter recently gave birth to a daughter, making me a proud great grand father. 
 
I currently live alone in the nice 3 bedroom, 2 bath house that Shirley and I purchased in 1963. Due to health issues, I may be forced to downsize in the future, but I will hang on as long as I can. 
John Passed away in 2009 after a long period of poor health.. mc webmaster

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