DATE: Friday, August 15, 1997               TAG: 9708150636

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B8   EDITION: FINAL 

DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                    LENGTH:   40 lines

RONALD K. IRVING

Retired U.S. Navy Capt. Ronald K. Irving, born Aug. 9, 1912, the husband of Helen Cushman Irving, died at his residence Aug. 13, 1997. On June 6, they celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary. He was a native of Norwich, N.Y., and first came to the Tidewater area in 1934. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1935.

During World War II, he was commended for his performance on the aircraft carrier Saratoga and received the Bronze Star medal, a Gold Star in lieu of a second Bronze Star and the Purple Heart while in command of Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 23. He also commanded the destroyer Stormes, LST Squadron 2 and the naval cargo ship Wyandot. He had considerable experience battling pack ice and threading icebergs, sometimes in fog, while in the Arctic on LSTs and in the Antarctic in the Wyandot.

He taught school, seventh-grade math, in Virginia Beach from 1965 to 1967 and some geography courses for ODU in 1972 and 1973. He was a life member of the U.S. Naval Academy Alumni Association, the Retired Officers Association and the Disabled American Veterans. In 1980, he became the Tidewater area Coordinator for Tax Aide, an organization of volunteers mainly by the American Association of Retired Persons devoted to helping the elderly with their income taxes.

Other survivors include two sons, Jeffrey C. of Virginia Beach and David of Dayton, Ohio; five grandchildren, three of whom are Jeffrey's children, Timothy, Laurie and Michael, and two who are David's, Karl and Kevin; and six great-grandchildren.

The family will receive friends Sunday from 3:30 to 5 p.m. in Kellum Funeral Home, Bonney Road Chapel. A funeral will be conducted at 11 a.m. Monday in Little Creek Amphibious Base Chapel. Interment will be at 1 p.m. in Arlington National Cemetery on Aug. 26, 1997. The family suggests donations in lieu of flowers to the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society. ILLUSTRATION: Personal Photo KEYWORDS: DEATH OBITUARY

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