Charles McHatton Fuss Jr.

The son of Charles M. Fuss, Sr., and Alice (Boland) Fuss, Mr. Fuss was born on May 18, 1930, in Tampa. He grew up there with his brother, John “Jack” Fuss, and sister, Mary (Fuss) Proctor. His love of the sea began at a young age, serving in the Sea Scouts volunteering for port security patrols at the Port of Tampa in 1944, and lasted a lifetime.

Mr. Fuss was a retired NOAA special agent with 36 years of Federal service. He spent five years in the Navy, including two combat tours during the Korean War. Fuss received a master’s degree in biology from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in 1960, the same year he married the love of his life, Carol Ann Bergeron of Thibodaux, Louisiana. He then worked for the federal government as a fisheries biologist, enforcement agent, and Special Agent in Charge. His duties included monitoring Soviet and other foreign fishing activities off the southeastern U.S. and in the Caribbean Sea. He also served as a consultant to the United Nations.

In 1983, Mr. Fuss was detailed to the Office of the Vice President, National Narcotics Border Interdiction System. He developed fishing vessel identification materials, vessel post-seizure inspection techniques and crew de-briefing procedures. Based on his extensive prison interviews with convicted smugglers, Fuss was selected to prepare the maritime smuggling scenarios for the 1988 drug interdiction games at the Naval War College. In 1989, he joined the newly established Office of National Drug Control Policy and worked there as a smuggling expert until he retired in 1990. His proposal for a national defendant debriefing program was included in the first National Drug Control Strategy by then President George H. W. Bush.

Charles Fuss is the author of Sea of Grass, the Maritime Drug War, 1970-1990 published by the Naval Institute Press in 1996. He has also authored more than fifty published fisheries, maritime and naval articles, booklets and research papers. He later served as the volunteer historian of the American Victory Mariners Memorial and Museum Ship in Tampa.

Most of all, Charlie was a beloved husband, father, and grandfather. He is survived by his loving wife, Carol Ann Fuss. He leaves behind two daughters, Charlotte (Fuss) Matthews, and Cindy (Fuss) Cureton, and four sons, Mac, Frank, Mike, and Chris Fuss. He also leaves behind twelve grandchildren and seven great grandchildren. He will be dearly missed by all.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.beachmemorial.com for the Fuss family.