USS Henry B. WILSON DDG-7

04/29/2023 14:15 Last Up Date

Guest Book

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OBITUARY FOR CAPT LAWRENCE D. CANEY USN RET 

Captain Lawrence Caney USN Ret, died on November 20^th at Fairfax Inova Hospital in Fairfax Virginia.  He was 88. 

Born and raised in Gardiner, Maine, he attended Bowdoin College and in 1942 he graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis with the Class of 1943. 

Captain Caney wore the Navy uniform for 40 years and was the last officer in his Naval Academy class to retire from active duty.  Most of his service was in destroyers, serving in the Atlantic and Pacific Fleets.  During World War II he participated in the invasions of North Africa, Normandy, and Southern France.  He participated in the Vietnam War as a Destroyer Squadron Commander. 

Twenty-eight years of his Navy career were spent at sea or overseas.  He had six sea commands.  Overseas assignments included Europe and a Caspian Sea Port in northern Iran where in the ‘70s he developed and implemented a training program for the Imperial Iranian Navy. 

Captain Caney’s shore assignments in the U.S. included the Naval War College, the Pentagon, where he played a responsible role in the development of the Spruance Class destroyer; and Command of the Naval Training Center at Bainbridge, Md. 

In 1990 he wore the uniform for the last time when he was the guest speaker at the de-commissioning of the guided missile destroyer (DDG-7) which he placed in commission 30 years earlier as the first commanding officer. 

His decorations included the Legion of Merit, the Meritorious Service Medal (2), the Bronze Star Medal with combat V, the Army Commendation and Joint Service Commendation Medal and various campaign medals. 

Following his Naval Service, he returned to Maine in 1981, and took up gardening and the piano. 

He is survived by two sons, Lawrence D, Jr. and John F. both of Valley Center CA, one daughter Ellen Mugg of Mooresville NC, and his sister Imogene Caney Fair of Louisville MS, four grandchildren and two great grandsons.  His wife of 55 years, the former Ann Pomerleau, predeceased him in 1998.  In 2005 he married Marjorie Dudley Corle of Alexandria, VA.