Lucky Bag Yearbook

From the 1951 Lucky Bag:

George Lawrence Gleason

“Flip” . . . swimmer . . . confident . . . helpful . . . immaculate . . . academics never bother Flip . . . “Eight periods tomorrow, George.” . . . “Ah, yes, I will do my skinny and then we can go to bed early.” . . . calm, collected at all times . . . the picture of his lovely fiancee on the desk contributes a good share of his self satisfaction and of course the pipe helps . . . did I say pipe? . . . excuse me, George, pipes . . . a true pipe collector . . . desiring to add a few pounds to his slim frame, he has tried every conceivable method from two helpings of butter to a giant size pill that looks like a marble . . . he will always have an abundance of friends and best wishes. . . .

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He was also a member of the swim team.

Loss

George was lost on March 31, 1954 when his aircraft, sitting on the deck of USS Midway (CV 41), was destroyed by a plane that crashed into it. The ship was operating in the Mediterranean Sea at the time; George was a member of Fighter Squadron (VF) 31.

The other pilot was killed, as was an airman working on the deck of the carrier. There is a twelve-photo sequence of the F2H-3 Banshee of VF-31 “Tomcatters” going over the barrier, and then a picture of the result.

Other Information

From researcher Kathy Franz:

George’s parents were George Fenelon Gleason and Antionette/Anna (Anderson) of Beacon Falls, Connecticut. They married on December 5, 1926 in Sag Harbor, but they later divorced.

Earlier in July that year, his father, a Navy aviator and radio man, and two friends flew to his mother’s summer camp on Pine Neck, New York. In December, he was stationed in Great Lakes radio station, U.S. Navy, Chicago, Illinois. He retired from the Navy and was a salesman for a lightning rod company in Vineland, New Jersey, in 1940.

George’s grandmother was Annette Fenelon Gleason who later became Mrs. Annette Bugbee. She and George’s father moved to Southampton, New York, by 1950. She died in 1960 and was also buried in the Oakland Cemetery.

He was survived by his wife, Grete, and two daughters. (Information from May 1954 issue of Shipmate.) He is buried in Oakland Cemetery, Sag Harbor, New York.

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Ralph Stothard ‘51 was also on the swim team.