Captain Edmund Craig Mortimer

Captain Edmund Craig Mortimer, USN (Ret.) passed away on April 29, 2025.

He was a true son of the Eastern Shore, born in Salisbury, Maryland on 1 December, 1934 to Edmund S. and Margaret J. Mortimer. He often told his kids (and others) how he earned 25 cents an hour on his first job on the farm and delivered milk from a horse drawn carriage. He attended Wicomico High School, graduating with the class of 1952. Immediately after graduation he entered the US Naval Academy, graduating with the class of 1956, a member of the Eleventh Company, the Color Company. In 1960 he married the former Margaret Luanne Harrison of Norfolk, whom he met on a blind date with a shipmate. She predeceased him in January, 2020 after 60 years of marriage.

After serving four years on destroyers and qualifying as a Surface Warfare Officer, he entered Webb Institute of Naval Architecture, graduating in 1963 with a master’s degree in naval architecture and a bachelor’s degree in marine engineering. Subsequent assignments included Docking Officer at Norfolk Naval Shipyard; Fleet Modernization at Commander in Chief, US Pacific Fleet; Supervisor of Shipbuilding, Sturgeon Bay Wisconsin; Special Projects, Commander Naval Forces Korea; Administrative Assistant to Commander Naval Sea Systems Command and two tours as Shipbuilding Major Program Manager (SHAPM). During his second tour as Major Program Manager, during the Reagan years build-up, he had nine separate major shipbuilding programs under his management ranging from the two-ship hospital ship (AH) program to the fifteen ship Henry Kaiser T-AO 187 Class procured under the “Acquisition Streamlining” concept which resulted in significant savings to the Navy. Always somewhat of a maverick in the acquisition process, he was known during much of his career as “Captain Ed” by both seniors and subordinates, a measure both of respect and the close camaraderie that existed among his fellow workers.

After retirement from the Navy, he joined Avondale Industries Inc. and was quickly promoted to manager of the Avondale Shipyard where he served for about ten years, retiring in 2000. Subsequent to retirement, he and his wife, Luanne, moved to Smithfield, Virginia where they made numerous friends and enjoyed the semi-rural life. He was active in numerous civic programs, particularly those dedicated to supporting those in uniform from the military to law enforcement. He was an avid golfer with a fair handicap until neurological leg problems forced him to the sidelines.

He is survived by three daughters, Anne Barnes (Dana), Pam Martin (Woody) and Elizabeth Elliot (Glenn); twelve grandchildren and twelve great-grandchildren. He was a life member of ASNE, SNAME, American Legion, VFW, USNA Alumnae Association, Surface Navy Warfare Assn and Fleet Reserve Assn.

He loved his family, his country, people in uniform, dogs and a good Manhattan.

A celebration of life will be held on Saturday, May 10, 2025, from 3-6pm at Smithfield Station, 415 South Church Street, Smithfield, Virginia, 23430.

Interment will be at a later date at USNA.

Online condolences may be registered at www.littlesfuneralhome.com