Captain Glenn I. Dumas Usn (Ret)

Captain Glenn I. Dumas USN (Ret)
USNA Class of 1944

Captain Glenn I. Dumas USN (Ret) died of pancreatic cancer at Prescott, AZ on August 6, 2011, at the age of 90.

Glenns roots go far back into Arizona history. Glenn was born in Flagstaff, Arizona on January 7, 1921 to Ada Lenore Francis Dumas, who herself was born in Flagstaff in 1888, and Mack Oliver Dumas, formerly of San Saba, Texas. Lenore was the daughter of Sheriff John W. Francis and Nellie Beal Francis, which made them one of the original families to settle in Northern Arizona Territory. Glenns father, Mack, was the son of David E. Dumas who was an early homesteader in Oak Creek Canyon near Sedona.

Glenn attended elementary schools in Clemenceau, Jerome, Phoenix and Tempe prior to graduating from Tempe High School in 1937. Glenn then attended Phoenix Junior College. Prior to graduating from junior college, Glenn earned his private pilots license at such an unusually young age that he received a congratulatory letter from the then equivalent of the FAA. That letter was signed by Col Jimmy Doolittle. In 1939, Glenn received an appointment to the Naval Academy from Senator Carl Hayden At the Naval Academy, Glenn was an intercollegiate boxer and marksman with the pistol team. Due to the pressing needs of the Navy during WW II, Glenns Academy class graduated a year early, in June of 1943. At that time, Glenn graduated in the top 20 in his class of over 750 Midshipmen.

Upon graduation, Glenn served aboard the USS Arkansas (BB-33) on both convoy duty and in support of the invasion of Normandy and of Southern France. Glenn then attended flight school. After earning his wings in 1945, he proceeded to fly the F6-F Hellcat and the F8-F Bearcat with the Bedevilers of newly formed F/B-10 under squadron CO Swede Vejtasa (where he designed the squadron insignia that is still in use today).

After attending the Naval Postgraduate School and earning an MS in physics at UCLA, Glenn joined the Pioneers of VX-1 in Key West, Florida where he was a test pilot for some of the Navys first helicopters and where he helped to develop several acoustic and magnetic anti-submarine warfare systems. There followed a three-year tour at the Bureau of Aeronautics at the Pentagon, after which Glenn reported to Quonset Point, Rhode Island where he was the first commanding officer of the newly commissioned and first all weather ASW helicopter squadron, the Dragonslayers of HS-11 (where he also designed the squadron insignia that is still in use today), during which time he participated in Sixth Fleet operations involved in the Lebanon Crisis of 1958.

Following a second three-year tour at the Pentagon with the Director of Defense Research and Engineering, Glenn served as the commander of the air group (CAG-52) aboard the USS Wasp (CVS-18). Glenn then reported to Little Creek, Virginia where he was the commanding officer of the USS Thetis Bay (LPH-6) during which time, the ship aided in the recovery of the Mercury astronauts. Glenn then served on the staff of the CNO in the Pentagon, as the Director of Air Antisubmarine Warfare.

Following his retirement from the Navy in 1966, Glenn joined with several fellow Navy aviators in founding American Microsystems, Inc., in Saratoga, California. And, AMI was one of the very first semiconductor companies in what was destined to become Silicon Valley. During a 12 year career at AMI, Glenn served variously as the companys VP of Administration, VP of Marketing, VP of Engineering, and VP of Corporate Development. After leaving AMI in 1978, Glenn went on to found and president of several consumer product companies that utilized customized semiconductor logic circuitry in their controls. Glenn then retired to spend quality time on the golf courses of Grass Valley, California and then Arcata, California before finally returning to live in his home state in 2003, first in Dewey and then in Prescott, Arizona.

Glenn was predeceased by his Phoenix Junior College sweetheart and wife of 64 years, the former Virginia (Diddy) Jones, whom he wed at the Naval Academy chapel immediately following his graduation from the Academy. Following her graduation from Arizona State University in 1942, where she was elected the Homecoming Queen, Diddy moved to Annapolis, Maryland to teach elementary school and, of course, to be closer to Glenn. During a 22 year Navy career, Diddy was both a secondary school teacher and a heavily involved in Navy activities, including being president of several Officers Wives Clubs and the chairman of the Grey Ladies, a volunteer nursing organization. Naturally, all of this activity contributed to Glenns rapid rise within the ranks of the Navy. And, of course, Diddy and Glenn also raised a family during throughout this time.

Glenn is survived by three children, including: his sons, Jeff and his wife Penny, of Boulder, Colorado; Doug and his wife Pam, of Citrus Heights, California; and a daughter, Nancy and her husband Bill Schafer, of Prescott, Arizona. Glenn is also survived by five grand children: Todd and his wife Stephanie, Rebecca, Jennifer, Danielle, and Michelle and by one great grand daughter, Abigail. Glenn is also survived by his sister, Martha Bunger of Mesa, Arizona.