Russell Espenschied Sr. 1930-2009 Russell Barton Espenschied, Sr., 78, died on Sunday, Jan. 25, 2009.
Mr. Espenschied was born in Riverside, N.J. on Oct. 21, 1930. At age 19,
he joined the Navy. After training he was assigned to the U.S.S.
DeHaven as a machinist mate. He was in charge of training in machine
engineering, which included teaching the operating principles of
hydraulics, the internal workings of various pumps, and the overhaul of
diesel engines, steam turbines, and reduction gear. Russ served on
board the DeHaven from 1949-1955 during the Korean War and was aboard
when the DeHaven participated in the invasion of Inchon. He
was well known and liked among his shipmates where he got his nickname
"Moose".
On October 17, 1953, Mr. Espenschied married Phyllis Austin.
Following his departure from the Navy, they returned to Riverside, N.J.,
to raise their 3 children, Phyllis, Russell, and Sandra.
In 1979 Russ and Phyllis moved to Georgia and then later on to Florida
where he worked for Unistrut, a space framing company.
In 1995, they retired to Summerfield, Florida where they often
entertained many of his former shipmates.
 Throughout his life,
Russell always maintained an active interest in woodworking, furniture
building, and later on stained glass design. He donated many items to
the U.S.S. DeHaven Sailors Association including a copy of the U.S.S.
DeHaven itself. It was during the last association meeting that he
attended the picture of the ship accidentally fell and broke. He made a
second piece, which he donated back to the association. His daughter,
Sandra, now owns the first piece, which he repaired. It was the last
piece of stained glass he worked on. Survivors include his daughters Phyllis Marchant,
Brooks, Ga., Sandy Espenschied, Murphy, N.C.; son, Russell B., Jr.,
Denver, N.C.; sister, Ruth Levallen, Satellite Beach; and three
grandchildren. Shipmates reflect:
Jerry McKinnon "Mac" MM2 '49 - '52 It is with heavy heart that I try to record my thoughts and memories of
Moose. My mind is so thick with his memory . . .his imposing ways coupled
with graciousness . . . his sternness coupled with sense of humor . . .his
turned down frowns transforming into big open mouth smiles . . .his open
hand finger -pointing becoming a handshake of friendship . . . his
willingness to impart his knowledge but willing to admit ignorance . . .
his generosity tempered with frugality . . . his love for his fellow
shipmates as demonstrated by the love shown by his family for him . . .
Yes, my heart is heavy but my life has been blessed by standing watches in
the engine room and waiting in the chow lines with Moose . . . a broken
1-3/8" box end wrench and stripped threads on nuts and bolts met with the
challenge to get one turn on an nut with a wrench after Moose had made it
"finger tight" . . . his trying to give blood, but the corpsman unable to
pierce the artery in his forearm . . .and doing so many routine duties
aboard ship and sharing stories at the reunions. One curse of Altzheimers
would be to lose those precious memories of one fine shipmate and old
friend. Tony Facci Dorothy and I are sending our sympathy and want to let every one know that we are going to miss Moose very much. Moose was a great part of the Dehaven group and also cared about everything Dehaven!!!!! He would do anything for you if he could. Over the years Dorothy and I had grown to like him very much.
Eric (doc) Brummitt What can you say about some one who was a sailors sailor? When he
was made the mold was broken. Law Risken My best to Moose's family but we know he is in a
better place. We started attending Association Reunions about the same
time. Before going to following reunions my late wife would always
say.."I hope Moose will be there" I think she fell in love with him. She
enjoy shooting the breeze with him. He was an interesting, smart and
decent man. I remember the one time we met on 727,
I was a reservist who went to a 2 week Boot Camp in
1952 and went on active duty as a SA in 1954. I by-passed the RTC, was
sent to Seattle for a week then to the DeHaven. I was on the ship 3
weeks after leaving Montana. I suffered cultural shock when I saw the
Head and where I had to live. My first night Moose and I sat at the same
table for dinner. He was as nice a person as you would ever meet. He
probably knew I was down in the dumps. To make a long story short, Moose
kept me laughing, got my mind off my problem. I remember asking a kid
who he was and was told that was Moose a Snipe. I didn't know what the
word meant but acted like I did. That was November 1954 and I think he
left the ship shortly after.
The reason I remember that brief meeting was that
10 years later I started working in Prisons in Montana and Washington.
Every time an Inmate would complain about conditions, I would think
about dinner with Moose, how he made me take my mind off my new "lot in
life". I would think " you think this is bad try living on a Tincan." Moose,
a good man who was lucky enough to have a loving family and so many De
Haven friends.
Scott Martin Moose was one of the first people I met as I attended my first reunion. As said above, he was a sailor's sailor to the core. We shared a lot in common as we were both snipes while in the Navy even though I was aboard 15 years later. Moose was one of the pillars of the DeHaven Sailors Association. His contributions and participation in discussion groups will surely be missed. He'll keep the steam heat on up "there".
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