Maurice 'Chief' King, 90, Navy veteran and manager

Maurice H. "Chief" King, 90, of Logan, a Navy veteran and retired company manager, died of cancer Aug. 10 at Christus St. Michael Hospital in Texarkana, Texas.

Since the death in March of his wife, Olga Neznek, he had been living in Texarkana to be close to family.

A native of Arkansas, Mr. King served in the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Depression. He was a forester in Michigan for the CCC and then an orderly in a hospital in Arkansas, where one of his patients was John J. Pershing, the general who led the U.S. Army Expeditionary Force in World War I.

Pershing advised the orderly that another war was coming and urged him to join the military.

Mr. King enlisted in the Navy in 1940 and was stationed on Pearl Harbor when it was attacked on Dec. 7, 1941. Fortunately, he was billeted miles from the harbor, said a son, Kenneth.

During World War II, Mr. King served on the aircraft carrier Saratoga. The ship, which was hit by torpedoes twice, participated in the invasion of Guadalcanal and the Eastern Solomons.

Mr. King, a chief petty officer, was then assigned to the aircraft carrier Monterey, where he met a young ensign, Gerald Ford. In the 1970s, then President Ford and King met again at a Monterey reunion in Washington.

Mr. King was aboard the Monterey in Tokyo Bay on Sept.,2, 1945 when the Japanese surrendered.

After the war, he remained on active duty and was aboard the destroyer U.S. Philippine when it participated in the invasion of Inchon during the Korean War.

Mr. King was stationed at Naval Submarine Base in New London, Conn., where he headed the torpedo shop, when he retired from active duty in 1960. He remained in the Navy Reserve until 1970.

After his active duty, Mr. King joined Action Manufacturing in Philadelphia. He retired in the early 1990s as manager of assembly and shipping for the firm, a manufacturer of precision ordnance products for the U.S. government.

A talented baseball player, Mr. King played for Navy teams while in the service and struck out an Army player, Joe DiMaggio, in a game in Hawaii in 1944, his son said.

Mr. King, an avid Phillies fan, played with local softball leagues until he was in his 70s and played golf into his 80s. He was a Mason.

He cared for his wife, an invalid, for seven years until her death. They had been married since 1947.

In addition to his son Kenneth, Mr. King is survived by sons Maurice and Stephen; a sister; eight grandchildren; and a great-granddaughter. A graveside service for Mr. King and his wife will be at 10:15 a.m. Saturday at Oakland Cemetery, 4650 Ramona Ave., Philadelphia.