Cdr. Hird

Cdr. Louis R. Hird, USN (Ret.), age 97, lifelong summer resident of Big Birch Lake, died Tuesday, September 28, 2010 at the Melrose Area Hospital in Melrose, Minnesota.

Memorial services will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, October 1 at the Episcopal Church of the Good Samaritan in Sauk Centre with The Rev. Robert Cavanna and The Rev. Roger Phillips officiating. A private inurnment will take place at a later date.

Friends may call 1 hour prior to the service at the church.

Louis Rittenhouse Hird was born July 29, 1913 in Annapolis, Maryland to Capt. Harry B. Hird, USNA class of 1908 and Anna (Howe) Hird. He had various residences and schools as a Navy brat. Louis attended Devitt Prep School in Washington, DC and earned Presidential (Herbert Hoover) Appointment to US Naval Academy. He graduated from USNA in 1935, and had a Navy letter in lacrosse. His first duty station was aboard the USS Texas having various assignments including Aviation Gunnery Observer. Louis graduated Naval Aviator flight training in Pensacola, Florida and served briefly as an instructor there. He served various duties in VS-42 on the USS Ranger and was a tailhook pilot and then attended two years in Mechanical Engineering at USNA Graduate School. He then sailed on a Liberty Ship to join CommAirSoPac on Guadalcanal during WWII. His tours were at NRL Anacostia, USS Kearsarge as Navigator, NAS & NAMTC Pt. Mugu, ComCarDiv Five staff during the Korean War, ComNab-11 at North Island, CA, NAS Ford Island, Pearl Harbor as CO, and NAS Millington, TN, all preceding his military retirement in 1959. Other sea duty stations included the destroyer USS Dale and carrier USS Oriskany.On July 26, 1937 he was united in marriage to Mary Clark (Brown) in Reno, Nevada. Louis graduated in 1960 from Purdue University with a MS in Mathematics. He was a mathematics instructor and the first Director of Computer Services at St. Cloud State University from 1960 - 1975. Louis retired completely in 1975 and traveled the United States. He had homes in Ocala, Florida, then Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and every summer at the lake in Grey Eagle, Minnesota.

Louis was an active member at the Episcopal Churches where they have lived, St. Patrick's, St. Paul's, and Good Samaritan respectively. Cdr. Hird started playing golf at ten years old and has two holes-in-one to his credit. He also loved fishing and playing cards, especially cribbage.

Survivors include his wife, Mary Clark Hird of Sauk Centre; children, Sally (Bob) Hughes of Murfreesboro, TN, Laurie (Ralph) Freeman of Grey Eagle, and Julia (Tom) Zaborski of Oshkosh, WI; 12 grandchildren and 27 great-grandchildren; and nephew, Robert C. Hird, Jr. (Geri Unger).

He was preceded in death by his parents; and brother, Robert C. Hird, USNA class of 1933.

Memorials may be given to the Episcopal Church of the Good Samaritan or the U.S. Navy Relief Fund.