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NWSA "IN MEMORIAM "

Dr. Capt. Peter Richard Tatro, USN RET
July 31, 2006
 

From: Bill and Rose Raines
Sent: Thursday, August 03, 2006 2:34 PM
To: Webmaster@NavalWeather.org
Subject: Death of Capt Pete Tatro, USN RET

Just read about the death of Capt Pete Tatro, USN (Ret) in the Wilmington, NC Star News paper.  Please pass along the below information as appropriate.

Thanks,
Bill Raines
CAPT USN (Ret)

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Dr. Peter Richard Tatro, USN RET

SOUTHPORT– Dr. Peter Richard Tatro Sr., 70, of Southport, died Monday, July 31, 2006.

Mr. Tatro was born January 20, 1936, in Winthrop, Mass., and was the son of the late Carl and Margaret Mary McCann Tatro. He was preceded in death by his first wife, Jane F. Tatro, a grandchild, Tyler Marie Nash, a brother, Paul Tatro. He was a retired U.S. Navy Captain. During his Navy career he was a Naval Aviator, he flew ASW seaplanes and commanded a squadron located in Bermuda. Dr. Tatro earned his BS at Georgia Tech and a PHD in Physical Oceanography at MIT under Professor Stommel whom was world famous for his studies in oceanography.

After graduate school he served at Fleet Numerical Weather Center, Monterey, Ca. He pioneered the development and use of models for forecasting the acoustic conditions and performance of Navy ASW systems. He was a leading advocate for the application of models as the computers came of age, giving numerous presentations to Naval Research Boards and Congressional Committees. After Monterey he came to Washington and worked at the Office of Naval Research. In 1972 he founded the Acoustic Environmental Support Detachment of ONR which had responsibility for developing acoustic models and providing them to the Fleet for their ASW operations. He assembled a team of experts from industry and government which developed several such models to support nearly all platforms and types of ASW sensors. He retired as a Navy Captain and joined Science Applications International Corporation as a division manager in 1977. At SAIC he grew a small division into a large group which became recognized as one of the Navy’s leading resources in acoustics, physical oceanography and signal processing. He retired as a Group Senior Vice President and continued to consult for Johns Hopkins University and the Submarine Security Program for several more years.

After retiring in 1999 Pete dedicated his life to boating, clamming and crabbing and golfing. He became an avid fisherman. He loved and enjoyed spending time with his family and friends.

He is survived by his wife, Linda J. Tatro; three children, Peter R. Tatro Jr. (Belinda) of Hollywood, Florida, Susan T. Nash (Grady) of Richmond, Virginia, Scott Arthur Tatro (Trina) of Salisbury Beach, Mass.; a step-son, Ben Rosenquist of Atlanta, Ga.; three grandchildren, Peter R. Tatro III, Daniel Guttmann, Laura Jane Nash; a sister, Jean Tatro of New Port, Rhode Island; a brother, Carl Tatro Jr. of Philadelphia, Pa.

A memorial service will be held Friday, August 4, 2006, at 1 p.m. at the Chapel of Peacock-Newnam & White Funeral Service, 1411 N. Howe Street, Southport, with Reverend Skip Williams officiating.

The family will receive friends from 4-6 this evening at the funeral home.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the American Cancer Society.

Peacock-Newnam & White Funeral and Cremation Service, Southport, NC (910) 457-6944.