Chester Nimitz, Jr.

Chester William Nimitz Jr.
Born	February 17, 1915(1915-02-17) Brooklyn, New York
Died	January 2, 2002(2002-01-02) (aged 86) Needham, Massachusetts
Place of burial	Pleasant Hill Cemetery, Wellfleet, Massachusetts
Allegiance	United States
Service/branch	United States Navy
Years of service	1936–1957
Rank	Rear Admiral
Commands held	USS Sturgeon (SS-187) USS Haddo (SS-255)
Battles/wars	World War II Korean War
Awards	Navy Cross[1] Silver Star with 2 gold stars[1] Bronze Star
Relations	Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz (father)
Other work	Businessman

Chester William "Chet" Nimitz, Jr. (17 February 1915^[2]-2 January 2002^[3]) was an American officer and submarine commander in the United States Navy (during World War II and the Korean War) and businessman. He distinguished himself on a number of occasions and was three times awarded the Silver Star for valor. He was the son of Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz.

Early life

Nimitz was born to Chester William, Sr., and Catherine Vance (née Freeman) Nimitz at the Brooklyn Navy Yard Hospital in Brooklyn, New York,^[4] while the couple, with their daughter Catherine Vance "Kate" (born the year before), lived at 415 Washington Avenue, Brooklyn, and Nimitz, Sr., was working on the USS Maumee at the Brooklyn Navy Yard.^[5]

He attended the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland, graduating with the class of 1936.^[4]

Nimitz married Joan Leona Labern at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard on 18 June 1938.^[6] She was born in León, Nicaragua in 1912 to British parents,^[7] William Oscar Stonewall and Frances Mary (née Wells) Labern.^[8] With her parents she returned to England at the outbreak of World War I in 1914,^[9] and was raised in England.^[10] Joan came to the United States in 1938 to study dentistry at the University of California Dental School in San Francisco, and met Chester at a cocktail party at Mare Island.^[6] She would make news in 1944 when she failed her test to become a United States citizen,^[7] two days later she did become a citizen of the U.S.^[11]

The couple would have three daughters, Frances Mary,^[12] Elizabeth Joan,^[12] and Sarah Catherine.^[4][13]

Commands

• Commanded the USN Submarine USS Sturgeon during the Battle of Pearl Harbor
• Commanded the USN Submarine USS Haddo and inflicted 14,756 tons of shipping damage to the Imperial Japanese Navy during the period of August 22, 1944-September 21, 1944^[14]

Later life

Chester Nimitz Jr. retired from the Navy as Rear Admiral in 1957. He joined Texas Instruments, and spent four years there. He later joined Perkin-Elmer Corporation, a manufacturer of scientific instruments based in Norwalk, Connecticut. He became president, chief-executive-officer (CEO) and a director in 1965, and was elected Chairman of the Board in 1969, serving until retirement in 1980.^[15][16]

He was an Honorary Trustee and Honorary Member of the Corporation of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.^[16]

Suicide

The health of Chester and his wife, Joan, had deteriorated in later years. Joan was blind, and Chester had lost 30 pounds due to a prolonged stomach disorder. He was also suffering from congestive heart failure.

On 2 January 2002, Chester Nimitz Jr. committed suicide with his wife Joan by ingesting a quantity of sleeping pills in their home at a retirement residence in Needham, Massachusetts.^[4] He left a note stating:^[17]

Our decision was made over a considerable period of time and was not carried out in acute desperation. Nor is it the expression of a mental illness. We have consciously, rationally, deliberately and of our own free will taken measures to end our lives today because of the physical limitations on our quality of life placed upon us by age, failing vision, osteoporosis, back and painful orthopedic problems.

Chester and Joan are buried at Pleasant Hill Cemetery in Wellfleet, Massachusetts.^[18][19]

Awards

•   Navy Cross
•   Silver Star with two gold stars
•   Bronze Star
•   Navy Unit Commendation - USS Haddo (7th War Patrol)

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Military Times Hall of Valor : Awards for Chester William Nimitz, Jr.". militarytimes.com. http://militarytimes.com/citations-medals-awards/recipient.php?recipientid=20733. Retrieved 11 October 2010. 
2. ^ Potter, Elmer Belmont (1976). Nimitz. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. p. 125. ISBN 978-0870214929. 
3. ^ "Paid Notice: Deaths - Nimitz, Chester W.". The New York Times. January 6, 2002. 
4. ^ ^{a b c d} Weil, Martin (January 8, 2002). "Chester W. Nimitz Jr., 86; Submarine Officer". The Washington Post: Obituaries. 
5. ^ Potter. - p.124-125.
6. ^ ^{a b} Potter. - p.166.
7. ^ ^{a b} "Nimitz Daughter-In-Law Fails In Citizenship Test". The Baltimore Sun. March 11, 1944. 
8. ^ United Kingdom birth and marriage records.
9. ^ UK Incoming Passenger Lists, 1878-1960. - Arrival: London, England - 1914.
10. ^ DeMarco, Peter (January 7, 2002). "A Family at Peace with a Decision to Die". The Boston Globe. 
11. ^ United Press International (May 13, 1944). "Nimitz' Daughter-In-Law Becomes U. S. Citizen". Pittsburgh Press. 
12. ^ ^{a b} Potter. - p.417n.
13. ^ Potter. pp.435,437-438.
14. ^ "Japanese Naval and Merchant Vessels Sunk During WWII By All U.S. Submarines: H - J". Valor At Sea. http://www.valoratsea.com/JANAC4.htm. 
15. ^ "Chester Nimitz Jr., Navy Admiral, 86". The New York Times. January 8, 2002. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/01/08/us/chester-nimitz-jr-navy-admiral-86.html. 
16. ^ ^{a b} Lauzon, Shelley (January 7, 2002 [Last updated: June 8, 2010]). "In Memoriam: Chester W. Nimitz, Jr". Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=10934&tid=282&cid=755&ct=163. 
17. ^ Buchanan, Patrick J. (January 18, 2002). "The Sad Suicide of Admiral Nimitz". The American Cause. http://www.theamericancause.org/patsadsuicide.htm. 
18. ^ "Rear Adm Chester W. Nimitz, Jr". Find a Grave. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=6522592. Retrieved November 10, 2011. 
19. ^ "Joan Labern Nimitz". Find a Grave. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=38361689. Retrieved November 10, 2011. 

Persondata
Name	Nimitz, Chester W., Jr.
Alternative names
Short description	United States Navy Vice Admiral
Date of birth	February 17, 1915
Place of birth	Brooklyn, New York
Date of death	January 2, 2002
Place of death	Needham, Massachusetts