Vincent William Ridley

A Memorial for Vincent William Ridley October 4, 1927-April 3, 2015 Vincent William Ridley packed a lot of life into his 87 years. He was an award-winning marine engineer, a U.S. Navy veteran, a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, and a high-school physics teacher in a second career he began in his 60s. What he took greatest pride in, though, was his life as a faithful and loving husband for over 51 years, a proud father of four children, and doting grandfather of eight grandchildren. The son of the late Vincent W. Ridley and Beatrice Denham, Vincent was born October 4, 1927, in Boston, MA. After brief stays in Brooklyn and later Mamaroneck, NY, Vincent and his parents moved to Larchmont, NY, where his brother Richard D. Ridley was born in 1932. In 1945, Vincent graduated from Mamaroneck High School and then attended the New York State Maritime Academy. He graduated from the Maritime Academy in 1947, receiving a 3rd Engineer's license from the U.S. Coast Guard and also a commission as an ensign in the U.S. Navy Reserve. Vincent then joined the shipping company United States Lines as a junior third assistant engineer on the SS Lookout, which made stops in the Philippines, Japan, China, and Hong Kong. After a three-year stint with the shipping company, Vincent enrolled in Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI). In 1952, however, Vincent was activated by the U.S. Navy as a Lieutenant Junior Grade and was initially assigned to the destroyer escort USS Maurice J. Manuel. A year later, Vincent was named Engineering Officer on the staff of an escort squadron with five destroyers. During his tour of duty, Vincent married his first wife Rosalind Noxon in 1954. Vincent completed active duty in the Navy in January 1955, and departed active service having earned the National Defense Service Ribbon and an Occupation Service Ribbon (European Clasp). Vincent re-entered RPI that month and made the Dean's List as well as the Pi Tau Sigma Honorary Fraternity and the Sigma Xi Honorary Fraternity during his remaining time there. Following his graduation from RPI in 1957 with a Bachelor's Degree in mechanical engineering, Vincent joined the marine design and naval architecture firm George S. Sharp. His first child, Regina Starr Ridley, was born in February 1957. Vincent moved to Wilton, CT, in 1960 and also earned a Masters Degree in nuclear engineering from New York University that year. Sadly, Vincent's first wife passed away in 1962. However, on a business trip to Copenhagen in January 1963, Vincent met Grethe M