Arthur Walter Wittig

Lieutenant Commander Arthur Wittig, US Navy (Ret.), died December 9, 2022, in Calvert County, Maryland, of pulmonary and cardiac distress. Art was eighty years old.

“The Commander,” as Art is affectionately known, is survived by his wife, Joyce Hughes Wittig; his daughter, Gretchen Renee Wittig, of Mineral Wells, Texas, and her partner, James Gallagher; and his two stepsons, Scott Benjamin Williams, and his wife, Becca Williams, of Ojai, California, and grandchildren Luca and Cole Williams; and Van Colton Williams, and his wife, Noelia Williams, of Bethesda, Maryland, and grandchildren Kaitlyn and Victoria Williams. Art was also the father of Shannon Nicole Wittig (deceased).

Art is survived by his brother, Bruce Wittig, and Bruce’s wife, Nancy, both of Austin, Texas. Art was son to Gunther and Edna Wittig (both deceased) of Austin, Texas.

An Outsize Life

Friends and family of Art will remember him for his customary salutation of “Have a great Navy day,” and for his insistence on standing while shaking anyone’s hand. When Art wasn’t tending to plants (or nabbing the occasional cutting from wherever he happened to find himself), he could often be found tinkering with one of his beloved cars.

Art was a larger-than-life figure in the community, riding his beloved motorcycles into his eightieth year. Many will recall Art’s Christmastime appearances as Santa, during which he eschewed Old Saint Nick’s traditional transportation for something closer to Art’s heart: his Harley!

Art had a big appetite for life, evidenced by his love of traveling with Joyce, his wife and fellow adventurer—and of his love of barbecue. He was, after all, a Texan at heart.

Early Life

Born in Philadelphia in 1942 (and, to be sure, it cost Art no little distress anytime he had to admit he was born outside the Lone Star State), Art moved as a child to Texas, where his family maintained a dairy farm in Fredericksburg.

An imposingly large figure even as a youth, Art was driving tractors by the age of six. It is little wonder he exhibited an unparalleled work ethic to the very end.

After graduating from William B. Travis High School in 1961, Art received an appointment to the United States Naval Academy (Annapolis, Maryland) as a Naval reservist. He graduated from the Naval Academy in 1965.

US Navy Pilot

Art enjoyed a twenty-year career as a Navy pilot. First came Flight School, after which he earned his Navy Gold Wings in 1967.

Art was assigned to VS-37 at San Diego, where he flew S-2 Tracker. He then transitioned as a basic jet flight instructor for the T-2 training aircraft.

After earning a master’s degree in personnel management at the Navy’s Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, he was assigned to fly the S-3, a carrier-based maritime patrol and surveillance aircraft. Art then received an assignment to the VS-28 squadron, known as “The Gamblers.”

Vietnam

Art served two tours in Vietnam, placing him among that group of veterans whose lives were forever altered by the conflict there. During his tours, he flew off the carriers America and Hornet, conducting anti-submarine missions in the Gulf of Tonkin.

Art never failed to honor veterans and the cause of MIAs and POWs.

Teacher/ROTC Leader

Art retired from the Navy in 1985 and took a position as a Naval science instructor in the Calvert County Public Schools system, where he taught for fifteen years. At Calvert High School, Art directed the first unit of the Navy Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps [NJROTC] and served as Naval science instructor through the 2000.

Through his work in NJROTC, Art helped many cadets earn scholarships to the four military academies and to other institutions, touching the lives of thousands of students and granting them opportunities to embrace the wider world.

In 2001 to 2011, Art taught mathematics and social studies at Mill Creek High School.

Community Works

Art’s love for the environment made recycling a natural passion, and he not only initiated a recycle-awareness program at Mill Creek Middle School but could often be found at the local landfill, reclaiming discarded items to fix or repurpose.

Art was an active member of the community at Saint Paul’s Episcopal Church and was a volunteer for the Calvert County Fair Board.

Art’s love of nature could be seen on the fairgrounds’ property, where he established a bluebird trail of nesting boxes—a trail he would regularly maintain and monitor.

Members of the American Legion know Art as one of their “American Legion Riders” of veteran motorcyclists. Art proudly rode in “Rolling Thunder” in Washington, DC, supporting veterans, POWs, and MIAs, until the gathering ceased activity in recent years.

Art’s dedication to the community also included his role as American Red Cross blood donor. He helped coordinate donations at Saint Paul’s Church and was proud to have donated more than fifteen gallons of blood. Art also volunteered his time for Saint Paul’s programs for those without shelter.

Fair Winds and Following Seas

If it were in Art’s power, he would surely have held on for one more day to take in his beloved Army-Navy game. This year’s edition was held, fittingly, in Philadelphia, and there’s something poignant in this being the city of Art’s birth—though, again, he was a Texan through and through!

Every death is a return, both a farewell and a greeting, and those who knew Art will have only to listen for memory’s gentle breeze, carrying the booming final request of a remarkable life:

“Have a great Navy day.”

Donations

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Saint Paul’s Episcopal Church or the National Niemann-Pick Foundation at chasethecure.net to benefit children like Caleb Woodard, living with Niemann-Pick Type-C, an ultra-rare, often fatal disease. Caleb is the grandson of the Wittigs’ friends, Frank and Linda Horsmon.