Obituary: Eugene Robert Wiseman, 90, Navy Commander

Eugene Robert Wiseman, 90, of Sunnybrook Drive, North Kingstown, a retired Navy commander and World War II veteran, died on January 29th. He was the husband of the late Corrinne Edwards Wiseman. They had been married for 65 years.

Born in North Troy, New York, a son of the late Eugene Roland and Sylvia Wilson Wiseman, he had settled in North Kingstown in 1960 while serving in the Navy. He was President of the class of 1941 at Lansingburgh High School and studied journalism at Syracuse University before entering the Naval Aviation Cadet Program in 1942.

He was commissioned an Ensign, US Naval Reserve and won his Navy wings and married Corrinne on April 7th, 1944. Trained as a carrier based torpedo bomber pilot, he made his first carrier landings aboard the Wolverine in the Great Lakes. Bob then joined the Pacific fleet as a replacement pilot in the Admiralty Islands and the escort carriers Kwajalien, Attu and Guam in the Mariana Islands, supporting the Luzon, Iwo Jima and Okinawa campaigns. At war's end he returned to the states and joined Torpedo Squadron 80 with Air Group 80 reforming in San Diego. He won his regular Navy commission in 1946 and served 23 years, mostly in the Hunter Killer Anti-submarine Forces of the Atlantic Fleet.

He transitioned to helicopters in 1960, joining Helicopter Antisubmarine Squadron HS 9 at Quonset Point and aboard the Essex, supporting the Bay of Pigs Invasion. He later commissioned and commanded Helicopter Antisubmarine Squadron HS 13 at Quonset. In 1962 as Air Group Commander aboard the Lake Champlain, he participated in the Cuban Missile Crisis. He then served as Operations and Executive Officer aboard the Essex, retiring in 1965.

Commander Wiseman returned to college at the University of RI, earning his BA and MA in International Relations. He had earlier completed the Navy 5-term college program at the University of Caifornia at Berkeley. He was elected to Phi Beta Kappa in 1957. He served 17 years as Assistant Dean of the Summer Session at URI.

Bob loved the precision, teamwork and camaraderie of carrier flying, logging 5000 hours and 800 day and night carrier landings aboard 30 different carriers. He loved poetry, pen and ink sketching, classical music, ship modeling, and traveling to England, Greece and especially Italy.

He and Corrinne were members of Westminster Unitarian Church in East Greenwich, where he served as Financial Secretary, Finance Director and Chamberlain of Beefeaters for many years. He is survived by two sons: Robin and his wife, Carol, and granddaughter Sasha of Providence; Chris and Cindy Sousa of Pawtucket and sister Evelyn Blow of Melbourne, Florida and brother Richard and wife Vera Wiseman of Tacoma, Washington and Peggy Lewis of Sunderland, UK. In lieu of flowers, donations to Westminster Unitarian Church, 119 Kenyon Avenue, East Greenwich, RI 02818 will be much appreciated.