Marion Lee Minnis

Captain Marion Lee Minnis, USN (Ret), died 8 December, 2015, in Jacksonville, Florida. He was 88 years old. Lee was born in Wylie, Texas, February 1, 1927, and graduated from North Dallas High School in 1943. He attended Texas A & M College until entering the U.S. Merchant Marine in 1944, serving in the Aleutians. He switched to the U.S. Navy and was in fire control school as WWII ended. Lee received a fleet appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy with the Class of 1950. After graduating with distinction, Lee reported to Pensacola for flight training. While there, he married Josephine Claire Freer of the Bronx, New York, on December 23, 1950. Qualifying as a fighter pilot, he was ordered to Lakehurst for training in lighter-than-air craft. Postgraduate school followed with an MS in Aeronautical Engineering awarded in 1957 from the University of Michigan. He then was a test pilot in jet carrier aircraft followed by duty in VA-112 aboard USS Hancock. His next assignment was assistant technical director, Navy Office, Lockheed, Sunnyvale, in 1961, for the development and testing of Polaris and Poseidon in submarines. Lee deployed as strike operations officer in USS Oriskany to The Gulf of Tonkin (Vietnam) in 1965; returning the next year as executive officer of VA-112 in USS Kitty Hawk with advancement to commanding officer that December. Duty followed as advisor to the Chief of Naval Operations in his appearances before Congress. Lee’s next tour was operations officer (1970-1971) for Commander Carrier Division Six in USS Saratoga. He then attended Harvard Business School before reporting as Deputy Coordinator for Nuclear Powered Carriers in 1971. Lee retired from the Navy on 1 February 1973 as a Captain with the Silver Star Medal, Legion of Merit, and numerous other decorations. He served as President of UIA, Williard, a mechanical construction company, followed by land development in Western Fairfax County, Virginia. George Mason University presented him an MA in history in 1983. Lee retired to Jacksonville, Florida, in 1991. He became a genealogist and historian and had published: The First Virginia Regiment of Foot, 1775-1783 and Level Green Witness to War, The Civil War in Northeast Virginia. His loving and devoted Navy wife, Jo, of 65 years survives him as do daughters, Patricia and Janet, son, Steven, USNA (78), their spouses, and three grandchildren. Lee’s services will be held 11am January 30th, 2016, at Church of Our Saviour, Jacksonville, Florida and in the spring, at the Columbarium, U. S. Naval Academy. Memorial contributions can be made to the USNA Foundation Gift Processing, 291 Wood Road, Annapolis, MD 21402 or Church of Our Saviour Youth Group, 12236 Mandarin Road, Jacksonville, FL 32223.