When I was on the USS Midway as a 2nd class, and then after I made 1st class, I worked in the Forward Bakeshop as the Cake Decorator and then Bakeshop Supervisor. Little did I realize that my attention to detail that I was perfecting decorating cakes would eventually turn into a hobby more than 30 years later. I practiced over and over designs for cakes, coming up with a different design each day to place on the mess decks for the crew to enjoy. I was honoring my fellow sailors’ departments and did so by a different design each day. I did old ships, new ships, squadron emblems and jets.

You may ask what this has to do with a hobby I started 30 years later. Well, I’m now preserving memorials and markers that honor our veterans and historical events. Emblems that were designed for cakes I have now cleaned on memorial markers around Bremerton, Washington, and up and down western Washington. To date I have restored over 300 granite markers and almost 100 brass memorials. I even restored the USS Midway plaque on Bremerton’s boardwalk.                 

After preserving and refurbishing most of the memorials around the Bremerton area and our county, I was asked to expand my horizon. In response, I looked at a listing of veterans and historical artifacts in our area. There were anchors, guns off of WWII ships and even a jet fighter from the Vietnam era here in our local area.

I asked local veterans’ organizations how many memorials were in our area and was told 27. Well, after restoring all the plaques on Bremerton’s boardwalk (over 300), I knew the number was much higher, and so I went throughout our county driving from the northernmost city to the farthest south and have discovered almost 100 memorials. Since restoring them, I have now documented over 100. I get the local stores to donate materials and sailors volunteer off of the ships in port to assist in refurbishing the memorials.

Last year I finished refurbishing all the memorials in Kitsap County and was then asked assist the Ladies of the Daughters of the American Revolution in restoring and refurbishing historical plaques. I agreed and have gone as far as Deception Pass (by Whidbey Island Naval Air Station) in the northern area of western Washington to the southern part of the state, Vancouver, following the Oregon Trail in Washington. It is a set of 11 markers from Vancouver to Olympia that were placed in 1916 by the Sons and Daughters of the American Revolution. My tie to this group is that I have proven that through Genealogical evidence that my 4th Great Grandfather served in the Revolutionary War.

Another aspect of restoring and refurbishing memorials is working in and around some of the older cemeteries in our area. Through the course of this work, I have discovered that we have a Medal of Honor recipient buried in three of our local cemeteries and a least four Bronze Star recipients. Their memorial tombstones are cleaned and restored with honor and dignity, something that has been lost over the years as family members move away from the areas that their loved ones grew up in.

You never know when the experience and knowledge you gained on the USS Midway will assist in a project 30 years later.