THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, April 11, 1995 TAG: 9504110295
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B6 EDITION: FINAL
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Short : 47 lines
Captain William J. McVey, USN (Ret.), died on April 9, 1995. He was 74 years old.
Captain McVey was a native of Lambert, Miss., but resided in Virginia Beach since his retirement from the Navy in 1973. After graduation from the US Naval Academy in 1943, he served aboard the USS Caperton, a destroyer, in World War II Pacific campaigns against the Japanese through the Marshall and Gilbert Islands, the Carolines, Mariannas and Philippines. He received his Navy wings in 1945 and served in various fighter squadrons flying off aircraft carriers in both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. He flew 116 combat missions during the Korean action from the carriers Boxer and Kearsarge. He commanded Fighter Squadrons (NU)91 and (NU)124. He attended both the Naval War College and The National War College. Captain McVey commanded the USS Sylvania while deployed and homeported in the Mediterranean in 1966 and 1967. During the Vietnam War he commanded the USS Intrepid and later served as Chief of Staff, Carrier Division Nine, aboard the USS Ranger. Captain McVey was awarded the Legion of Merit on three occasions, the Air Medal six times, the Navy Commendation Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal and several foreign awards. Additionally, Intrepid received the Navy Unit Commendation and Navy E while under his command.
Captain McVey is survived by his wife, Pamela Whitehurst McVey of Virginia Beach; one son, William Jefferson McVey III of Bakersfield, Calif.; one daughter, Anne Cole Pierce of Bloomfield Hills, Mich.; one son, Joseph Cole of Troy, Mich.; one stepdaughter, Mrs. William Stanley Bailey of West Palm Beach, Fla.; one sister, Ruth McVey Hutchens of Lake Worth, Fla.; four grandchildren; one stepgrandson; several nieces and nephews; and numerous cousins.
He was a Presbyterian and attended First Presbyterian Church, Virginia Beach. He was former president of the Virginia Beach Sports Club and founding member of Sigma Chi Fraternity at Mississippi State University.
A memorial service will be held on Thursday at 11 a.m. at Hollomon-Brown Funeral Home, Lynnhaven Chapel. Interment will be held at a later date at the Naval Academy, Annapolis, Md. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Virginia Beach Sports Club Athletic Scholarship Fund.
KEYWORDS: DEATH OBITUARY
by CNB