Robert Munson

Retired Rear Admiral Robert Charles Munson, age 87 of Kerrville, passed away Saturday, October 22, 2016. He was born October 5, 1929 in Oneonta, N.Y., the second of three sons born to C. William Munson, Sr. and Helen Reynolds Munson. \r\n \r\nHe was an honor student in high school and was selected as captain of the football, basketball and baseball teams by his team mates. \r\n \r\nAfter high school he enrolled in the School of Civil Engineering, a five year program, at Cornell University. He graduated in 1951 and shortly thereafter he was commissioned as an ensign in the U.S. Coast & Geodetic Survey.\r\n \r\nOne of his first assignments took him to Seattle, Washington for ship duty in Alaska. While in port, on election night in 1952, he met Loretta Gardner on a blind date at the Young Republicans Club - they were married a year later on November 22, 1953. They had three children, Craig (deceased), Jana and Melinda and now have a granddaughter, two grandsons, three great- grandchildren, two step-grandsons and a step-granddaughter, and four step great- grandchildren.\r\n \r\nDuring his career he served on seven different USC&GS Ships doing hydrographic surveys in the Pribilof Islands and Bering Sea, Puget Sound, Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea and finally in the North Atlantic Ocean in support of the Continental Drift Theory and researching the origin of the Gulf Stream.\r\n \r\nHe also was Officer in Charge of the Honolulu Seismic and Geomagnetic Observatory and Director of the National Tsunami Warning System for the Pacific region. A later assignment took him back to Hawaii as Director of the International Tsunami Warning System. \r\n \r\nHe was U.S. Representative for Commission IV, Hydrographic Surveying, International Federation of Surveyors (FIG). He served a term as executive secretary of the commission and attended the triennial meetings in Sweden, Australia, Norway, New Zealand, Canada, Spain, Bulgaria and Finland. He served as national director of the Society of American Military Engineers and President of the Washington, DC chapter. He was NOAA representative for charts and maps on the US/Canada Committee for the defense of North America. He was elected the first non-British President of the Hydrographic Society based in London. He served two terms.\r\n \r\nHe retired in December 1984 and he and Loretta moved to Kerrville, where he became very active in St. Peter's Episcopal Church. He was a licensed lay reader/Eucharistic minister served on the vestry twice, Jr. Warden and Sr. Warden, school board, Asst. Treasurer for 20 years, delegate or alternate delegate to Episcopal General Conventions three times, delegate to the church council every year for 21 years. He was involved in the election of three Bishops. In the Diocese he served on the Executive Committee twice and the Standing Committee.\r\n \r\nHe worked for 15 years with Christian Assistance Ministry,\r\n \r\nHe was involved with KAIROS prison ministry and served on nine of the weekends at the Ferguson Unit in Huntsville, TX.\r\n \r\nMemorial services will be held 2 PM, Friday, October 28, 2016 at St. Peter's Episcopal Church. \r\n