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RE: [PSUBS-MAILIST] Kittredge: Remembered
I was lucky enough to meet George and was looking forward to him coming down
to the ship to look PRV2 over, he was full of life even up till the end, I
remember asking him if he had time if he would like to come out the site and
see the wreck this spring he turned to me and said you mean if I am still
alive with a smile on his face, I replied that thought never crossed my
mind, then he showed me his ultra lite and his wind powered RO water maker
he was building, he was a remarkable man and will be missed by anyone who
had the pleasure of meeting him.
RIP Captain Kittredge
Green Board!
Brian V. Ryder
brian@subatlantic.com
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-----Original Message-----
From: owner-personal_submersibles@psubs.org
[mailto:owner-personal_submersibles@psubs.org] On Behalf Of Jon Wallace
Sent: Sunday, February 28, 2010 5:33 AM
To: personal_submersibles@psubs.org
Subject: Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] Kittredge: Remembered
George was quite a unique person whom I think impressed most people who
met him. If not for his life accomplishments, for the fact that this
person in his ninth decade was still flying, keeping horses, and
re-inventing his small submersibles with new ideas. I know many of you
who read this mailing list corresponded with George personally and
trekked to his house to meet him over the years. He always had time for
visitors and welcomed them. In 2008 when we had a very difficult time
trying to find accommodations for our convention in Maine, George said,
"I've got plenty of room here. You can all camp out in my back yard."
I almost took him up on that offer until I recalled that a good part of
his yard was marsh.
As I'm sure he did with many of you, he often would write me and ask my
opinion on some new thing he was working on or thinking about investing
his time in. Of course, he invariably almost always had his mind
already made up by the time he was seeking an opinion from you, but that
was one of the things that made George unique. He had a very
matter-of-fact method of dialog and always seemed to have a plan for
whatever he was going to get involved in. The first time I went to
Maine to visit him, he gave me the grand tour of Thomaston and the
surrounding area and he bought me a coffee. Some number of months
later, I told him that I wanted to come up for a visit and take him to
lunch. He responded in his very factual and predictable (at this point)
manner, "Ok then, you tell me when you are going to be here and you can
take me out to lunch". We did go out to lunch, but he snatched the bill
from the waitress and paid it completely ignoring my objections. I
finally told him, "I came up here purposely to buy YOU lunch, George.
If you don't let me pay then I'm going to have to come back in a few
months and take you out again." to which he responded, "Ok then, you
tell me when you are going to be here and you can take me out to lunch
again."
One of the conversations we had that still makes me laugh because of the
disconnect between his thought process and my own, was one that we had
just a few weeks prior to the 2007 convention in Michigan. After
telling him about our schedule and guest speakers, and a bit of other
chit-chat, I said to him, "Wouldn't it be great George if we could get
you to fly out to Michigan to be with us." to which he replied in the
most serious of tones, "Oh no! I could never do that...my plane doesn't
have the range to make it to Michigan." Those of you who know about
George's airplane will hopefully get as much of a kick out of that, as I
did.
He also had a rather unique method of ending a visit or conversation.
Regardless of what the topic was, or where we were within it, he would
eventually say, "Ok, what else can I do for you today?" and I
instinctively knew that my time with him for this visit or conversation
was over.
PSUBS, our organization, myself, and many of you; came into George's
life relatively late. I do believe however, that we inspired George in
many ways. My overall impression of George has always been that he was
the kind of person that didn't dwell on his accomplishments. While he
was always interested and willing to talk about small subs, in the time
of his life that most of us knew him he was not as obsessed with the
K-250 and K-350 as we are. His attitude (to me) when I first met him
seemed to be "been there, done that...now what else can I do to keep my
mind occupied." He very much seemed to be a soul that would become
fixated on a challenge, solve it, and then move on to the next
challenge. His interests revolved much more around the small private
airplane that he owned and flew, then the K-subs he had developed 30+
years prior. Over time however, I believe we rekindled his interest in
submarines and we collectively, are one reason he restarted development
of his UEM submersible. Without insinuating he needed it, my sense is
that many of our conversations surrounding the K-boat design, resulting
in many people contacting him personally to talk about their own K-sub
project or just to talk to him about submarines in general, inspired him
to take a second look at his accomplishments and validated all the hard
work he had done in the early 70's.
Jon
Benny Fritz wrote:
> I remember when I was on vacation back in...1995 I believe. I met the
good Captain at his railway in South Thomaston. He was lowering his sub
tender, with K-250/350 on board, into the cold Maine waters. He had no
problems with a young, bright eyed boy, looking and probably drooling over
his creation. It was back then that I first became interested in submarines
and began to design my own boats.
> When I enlisted and got stationed in Maine I found his email and wrote
him a letter recounting that visit. I received a letter back thanking me
for the kind words. He even included his catalog of submarine designs!
> I'm sure that all of us will remember him fondly and honor him for his
service, his insight and his kindness.
>
> Capt. George Kittredge, USN(Ret), you will be missed by all you have
touched, trained and inspired and I wish you peace.
>
> Shipmate, We have the watch.
>
> AT1(AW/SW) Benjamin Todd Fritz, USN
>
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