DALE N. FENDORF, LT, USN
Dale Fendorf '59
Lucky Bag
From the 1959 Lucky Bag:
DALE N. FENDORF
Kansas City, Kansas
Tenth Company
A perennial pessimist, Dale returned from every quiz, p-work and exam lamenting that he had bilged. However, when grades came out he passed with honors. "Frail Dale" wasn't satisfied with only academic honors, he also excelled in the field of athletics. After trying his hand at gymnastics Plebe year, he gave it up and decided to stick to lacrosse and starving himself for 150-pound football. If Dale's good natured smile and willingness to help out a classmate are still with him in Pensacola, we know that he will do as well in Navy Air as he did here.
He was also a member of the Brigade Staff (winter) and the 10th Company staff (spring).
DALE N. FENDORF
Kansas City, Kansas
Tenth Company
A perennial pessimist, Dale returned from every quiz, p-work and exam lamenting that he had bilged. However, when grades came out he passed with honors. "Frail Dale" wasn't satisfied with only academic honors, he also excelled in the field of athletics. After trying his hand at gymnastics Plebe year, he gave it up and decided to stick to lacrosse and starving himself for 150-pound football. If Dale's good natured smile and willingness to help out a classmate are still with him in Pensacola, we know that he will do as well in Navy Air as he did here.
He was also a member of the Brigade Staff (winter) and the 10th Company staff (spring).
Loss
Dale was lost on July 15, 1964 when the aircraft he was piloting exploded in the air off Crete during a training mission.
Other Information
From The Kansas City Times on July 17, 1964:
Lt. Dale N. Fendorf, a Navy pilot and a former Kansas City, Kansas, resident, was killed Wednesday when his jet exploded in the air off Crete during maneuvers in the Mediterranean. Highway patrolmen have been trying to locate Charles W. Brenneisen, Jr., Fendorfs father-in-law. He is returning from Jacksonville, Fla., where he was visiting his daughter, Mrs. Dale N. Fendorf, it was reported. Brenneisen is city attorney for Kansas City, Kansas. Lt. Fendorf was born in Iberia, Mo., and lived in Kansas City, Kansas, most of his life. He was graduated from the United States Navy academy at Annapolis in 1959. He also was graduated in 1955 from Wyandotte high school, where he played football. Surviving are his wife, Mrs. Ann Fendorf of the home; two sons, Robert Jeff Fendorf and Charles Jay Fendorf of the home in Jacksonville; his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Frank E. Fendorf, 1838 North Forty-ninth, Wyandotte County; three brothers, Dr. Kenneth Fendorf, Boulder Creek, Calif.; Frank W. Fendorf, Chillicothe, Mo., and Lt. Cmdr. James Fendorf, Quonset Point, R. I.; two sisters, Miss Carolyn Fendorf, 6000 Metcalf lane, Mission, and Mrs. Norman Gunderman, 4814 Catherine, Wyandotte County, and his maternal grand-mother, Mrs. L. J. Mavfield, Iberia, Mo.
He was attached to Fighter Squadron (VF) 14, aboard USS Franklin D. Roosevelt (CVA 42). (Information from November 1964 issue of Shipmate.)
From researcher Kathy Franz: "In high school, Dale played center on the football team, was president of the Boys “W” Club, and was a member of Student Council."
Dale has a memory marker in Arlington National Cemetery.
Photographs
From his high school yearbook
Related Articles
David Shiverdecker '59 was also on the 150 Pound Football team.
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