Dixon Sturr

HENRY D. STURR, JR. age 67, of Bel Air, Maryland, died in Jarrettsville on July 5, 2004. Born December 14, 1936 in Baltimore, he was the son of the late Captain Henry Dixon, Sr. and Mildred Rogers Sturr.

He graduated from Granby High School in Norfolk, VA in 1954 and from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1958. He received a master’s degree in oceanography from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California in 1969 and completed a doctorate program in ocean engineering at University of Rhode Island in 1974.
He served aboard the USS Thuban AKA-19, an attack cargo ship; a nuclear ship, the USS Truxton built and commissioned in Philadelphia, and USNS Bowditch, an oceanographic survey ship that worked the North Atlantic, charting ocean currents.

He was a faculty member at the U.S. Naval War College, Command and Staff School in Newport, Rhode Island, and served at Fleet Numerical Weather Center in Monterey, California, where the graphing of underwater acoustics and study of currents was accomplished. He retired in 1978.
While serving aboard the Thuban during the Cuban Missile Crisis, Mr. Sturr, who earned the rank of Lieutenant junior grade, was the boat group commander. He led the single rescue mission of Marines at Guantanamo Bay Cuba. He had to remove his dog tags and uniform to be non-suspect when, and if, he were captured, his ship and he were working under direct orders from President John F. Kennedy. All Marines and all men returned safely but family said no recognition has ever been given.

Upon retirement from the Navy, Mr. Sturr worked at SCI in Newport, R.I., Martin Marietta in Colorado and Maryland and finally Mitre Corporation in Virginia, ending in 1991.

From 1981 to 1991, Mr. Sturr was active in the Rotary, being the recipient of the Rotarian of the Year in 1984 for his accomplishments in the International Rotary Exchange Program.

His other major service area was active membership with the Episcopal Church,, serving on vestries, working as Sunday School teacher, serving ads usher/greeter, and with the Marriage Encounter Program.

Mr. Sturr is survived by his wife, Mig Garrity Sturr; three daughters, Dixanne M. Sturr of Bel Air; Sharon S. Lund and her husband, Michael of Williamsburg, Virginia; Dara-Lynn S. VanPee and hr husband, Pascal of Forest Hill; two sisters, Bette S. Nelson of Martinez, California; Mary Stuart of Orinda, California; five grandchildren, Jeremy R. and Jasmine M. Sturr-Smith , both of Bel Air; Joshua M. and Lauren E. Lund, both of Williamsburg, Virginia; and Sasha VanPee of Bel Air..

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to The Rotary Foundation Donor Services, in memory of Henry Dixon Sturr. Please send donations to M.G. Sturr, 45 Crystae Court, Bel Air, MD 21014. This fund will provide educational scholarships for deserving students. The family said education was Mr. Sturr’s No. 1 focus, for himself, his family, and the underprivileged.