Ty’s Naval Academy roommate, Lance Tucker, delivered the eulogy below at Ty’s funeral service in Manchester, New Hampshire, which he delivered in a summarized version during his tribute to Ty at Hubbard Hall on 27 April 2019.
Good morning to you. Some of you know me as Lance, but my real name is actually Gilligan. That statement will be self-evident when I finish.
I am humbled and honored to represent the brothers of 9th Company, Class of 1978, of the United States Naval Academy, all the other classmates, and many other shipmates and brothers and sisters in arms from around the globe. From Steve Koronka in Germany to Randy Meals in San Francisco, Mikey, Marcus, Dan and Lee present here today. All of us, all of us send our most heartfelt sympathy and condolences to you Missy, Heather, Ryan, Bridget, Shelly, Mike and Leslie, and other relatives and friends of Ty.
This is an extremely emotional time as a part of us has been ripped from us. We are simply devastated and bewildered. Lost. A disturbance in The Force. Yet through this pain I suggest we have received a tremendous gift. A new piece. Let me explain.
With his life, because of his presence, we have been forever enriched. This is the measure of the man. Yes, he was a great man taken so early from us. We all know what a great husband, a great father and a great friend he is.
Like some in the room, we knew him as a brother going back to July 1974. We sat cross legged on the deck for a special grouping, watching TV for the first time in weeks; Nixon’s resignation as president.
There are so many stories, some even true, of the many escapades that Ty was an accomplice to or cohort in some infraction against the rules. In a time when it was a crime to even possess an electric razor in your room, Ty routinely provided haircuts to his fellow company mates at the Academy. Everyone wanted a great trim instead of the butchers down in the Academy barber shop. Jack Fernandez, in a recent post, said that there is now a great barber in heaven now.
Ty was especially meaningful to me, as he and I were roommates for 3 years and picked up Mikey in our senior year. I will never forget the image of Ty with his headphones on, sitting at his desk with nothing but boxer shorts on, singing Rebel, Rebel from David Bowie on the air guitar. Many nights as I was going to sleep, he would still be up with pencil laboring on some engineering problem.
After our Plebe year, we sought each other out. It was an easy relationship. Simpatico. Both from California, both from troubled families, both energetic and both patriots. Look, we even ended up, as two west coast boys, with beautiful brides from the Atlantic coast of Maine.
I suspect that if his eyes were good, we probably would have ended up as roommates in flight school as Mike and I did. As you know, aviation was in his DNA.
For those HR professionals, in classic DISC, we were both IDs — exact same behavior styles. In a time of post-Vietnam America, we were both committed to our country and fiercely loyal to the principle of others before self. This is Ty’s watchword and his legacy.
Witty and always quick-minded, his words could bite like Voltaire. That Gaelic sharkiness. And his self-discipline and focus was classic Marcus Aurelius. Anybody who has ever read the Roman emperor’s Meditations will recognize that stoic sense of purpose. He would even keep his disease from others for he knew it was not right to trouble others with his problems.
I could keep up, in my own way, with his wit and intellect but not in his panache and people skills. We had many, many late night discussions before falling asleep at night.
We were constant companions for many years. We went across country from San Leandro, California to Annapolis, Maryland in 48 hours and some odd minutes one late December in his MG Midget. He could hardly fold himself up in that car. We only stopped for gas and physiological needs.
Both very willful and stubborn in our youthful self-confidence, he once during study hours, came over and misaligned my books that I had in perfect order. Yes, it’s a Big Bang Sheldon thing. I responded by dumping all his books on the floor. He cleared my desk to the floor. I cleared his desk and stripped his rack. He stripped my rack and dumped the trash on it. I cleaned out his entire closet onto the floor. He did the same. The room looked like a snowflake drill, a big mess, like my daughters’ rooms on an average teenage day. We laughed uncontrollably for the longest time. And then helped each other pick up.
In my first tour at NAS Jacksonville, The Sam Rayburn came into Kings Bay, Georgia. Not too long out of sub school, he was very proud to show me around his boat. He had become a steely eyed denizen of the deep. He taught me that there are only two types of vessels on the world’s oceans; targets and submarines.
Sorry Missy, I was deployed overseas to Sigonella when you were married. A full Navy career and lots of kids intervened. Even after my lost decade before finding Dede, we reconnected and it was like yesterday, like I never even was gone.
In the past decade or so, at many reunions, and recently, fantastic vacations, Dede and I saw Missy and Ty, and spent a long weekend with them in August [2018] just a few months ago. I spoke with him on the phone several times in the last few weeks
To live, to learn, to love and to leave a legacy.
I miss him.
But Jimmy Christmas, I have decided not to miss him because he is here, within me.
That piece, that piece that was ripped from me last week, I’m inserted with a new piece. A little thing under my heart that is like a nuclear reactor, a very powerful energy source. It’s a new piece I got from Ty. For there is one major thing for which I will always be second to him and that is his strong empathy, insightfulness, and positive energy for people. He always had a way about him. That panache. He nurtured and showered people with his strong sense of service to others with extremely high emotional and social maturity.
And of that smile. That smile. From mind to mouth I have nothing but a dump switch and one big valve.
Ty Jeffrey Glasgow ’78
(Photo courtesy of the Glasgow family)
Ty had incredible wheels and gears and pinions that were always people centered. His planetary gear was in the right place. Service to others.
Place that power source in you also. My piece is inserted, fully charged, yet I will forever be his Gilligan and he will always be my Skipper in this regard. This is the energy source that I have tucked right in here.
We are all enriched because he lived. This is a gift from him. Always stay positive; always be an energetic and a passionate source for people. This is the legacy. This is the power source. It is not about you, it’s about others.
In conclusion, I would like to read a submariner’s prayer based on Eternal Father, Strong to Save — the Navy Hymn.
Lord God, our power evermore
Whose arm doth reach the ocean floor
Dive with our men beneath the sea
Traverse the depths protectively
O hear us when we pray, and keep
Them safe from peril in the deep.
Thank you. Every day is a Gift. Power up!