Captain Lawrence Caney Obituary (2009)

FAIRFAX, Va. -- Captain Lawrence Caney, Navy retired, died on Nov. 20, 2009, at Fairfax Inova Hospital in Fairfax. He was 88.Born and raised in Gardiner, Maine, he attended Bowdoin College and graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis with the class of 1943.Capt. 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 1970s, he developed and implemented a training program for the Imperial Iranian Navy.Capt. Caney's shore assignments in the United States 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 decommissioning 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, two Meritorious Service Medals, 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, Calif.; one daughter, Ellen Mugg, of Mooresville, N.C.; his sister, Imogene Caney Fair, of Louisville, Miss.; 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.A memorial service took place Nov. 23 at Demaine Funeral Home, 520 South Washington St., Alexandria; (703) 549-0074. 7139352A memorial service will be held Wednesday, December 9th at 3pm at the Staples Funeral Home 53 Brunswick Ave. Gardiner