Londonderry News

12 January 1909-26 January 2010

Haverhill shoe factory to aviation & polaris missile submarines: 101 year old Naval Architect and Aeronautical Engineer, Frederick Horace Imlay passed away January 26, 2010 in Alexandria, VA of heart failure. He was born January 12, 1909 at 7 Grove St., Haverhill, Massachusetts to George Ralph Imlay from Riverside, NS and Nevada Eliza Pettengill of Haverhill, descendent of First Settlers of Newbury, MA, Richard Pettengill & Joanna Ingersoll. He married Harriet Isabelle Hussey in Londonderry, NH on June 28, 1936. She was born December 1, 1917 to Edward Hugh Hussey of Morden, NS & Mary Isabelle Bailey of Haverhill at Nutfield Farm, a colonial tavern, Ed bought from Deacon Day on the Mammoth Road between the capitals at Boston, MA and Concord, NH.

He is survived by wife Harriet of Bethesda, MD, son Kenneth Warren & Phyllis Cochran of Jay, Maine, 2 daughters Judith Anne & Blane Cox of Alexandria, VA and Barbara Susan & David Quent of Wooster, OH. There are 30 grandchildren: of Ken; Wendy Lynne Imlay (deceased),Tim & Tricia Brown, Kathy & Rob Bagley, Ken Imlay, Jr., Angela Imlay & Jay Sayles, Elise Imlay & Jason Starbird of ME, Thomas & Jacquelyn Imlay of Seattle, WA plus steps Geraldine, Norman, Paul, Robert, Jason, Aaron, Shawn, Steve, Vickie, Sandy (deceased) of ME/ of Judy; Laura Anne Dykes & Mark Carl of Canton, MI, Randall William & Brian Frederick Dykes of Akron, OH plus Kendra Cox & Bryan O’Connell of Calgary, Canada, Lael Cox of Old Alexandria, VA, Kiima Cox & Lee Forshey of DC & Linnèa Cox & Pat Simpson of Ashburn, VA / of Barbara; Jennifer Anne Quent & Harris Hatzissimou of NYC, Peter & Eric Quent of Akron, OH & Ryan Quent of Wooster,OH. There are 20 Great-grandchildren: Alexis Brown, Lindsay & Abigail Bagley, Levi & BriAnnah Imlay, Seth & Navada Sayles, Aiden &Devin Starbird, Ella Carl, Philip & Alessandra Hatzissimou plus; Heather, Billy, Stacie, Ronny, Jason, Jessica, Kaleb & Kai/ 8 great,great-step-grandchildren: Dustin, Jonathan, Lorna, Derrick, Timothy, Dakota, Brianne, & Sarah/ and 1 great,great,great-step-granddaughter: Isabelle. Two nephews Ed & Barbara Perreault of Fremont, NH and Ed Hussey of Wilton, NH also survive.

Mr. Imlay’s mother taught him to read at four years of age and to learn at the public library, but she died of pneumonia when he was 7. His brother Ralph was 6 at the time. His father enlisted housekeepers, friends, & family to help care for them while working in the shoe factories of Haverhill. At age 12, Fred was paying his own way, room and board by paper delivery, dish washing at the deli, and other odd jobs. He was offered a full scholarship for college, but no one encouraged it and he felt that not owning a suit would make him unacceptable in a campus environment. Instead, he worked several jobs, mainly in shoe factories the then principal industry at $9 a week.

In 1928, “one of the most influential events” of his life occurred. He learned of Federal Civil Service Examinations as an “avenue to employment in scientific fields”. He took the next available exams (2 with top scores in the time limit allowed for 1). In August 1929 he started as a Minor Laboratory Apprentice at Langley Field, VA with the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), now the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). There were about 200 mostly young, very well educated people at the forefront of research when he began. He worked with canvas bi-planes, met Wilbur Wright, and early jet aircraft, and. He worked at ever increasing levels of aeronautical engineering responsibilities during the great depression, (1929-1933).

An Airplane Structure class required mechanics & strength of materials training and the teacher and 21 working men told Fred that he didn’t have the necessary background. The 23rd man said, “I’ll help you and provide you with books.”, so Fred studied the 3 subjects at once & was 2nd in the class by the final exam. After 7 years in night classes at University of Virginia, he attained Aeronautical Engineer in 1938. His specialty was aircraft flight control with innovations to improve the maneuverability of U.S. fighter planes during the World War II years. When he tried to enlist in the Army he was turned away because he was told his work was too valuable for the war efforts. Mr. Imlay, disappointed, served draftees & returning GIs 4 nights a week, teaching them; automotive repair, dry cleaning, sheet metal layout, shop electricity, radio technician electrical and basic engineering classes from 1940 to 1948. Perhaps one of his most notable work efforts was on the sound-barrier breaking X-1 aircraft, flown by Chuck Yeager, that now hangs by the main entrance of the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC.

In Hampton, VA, their garden was park like with over 21 varieties of daffodils. There they had a son Kenneth Warren born October 2, 1940 and a daughter Judith Anne born January 20, 1946. In later years he pollinated & grew amaryllis from their seeds. Ever a family man, he moved for better public schools to Chevy Chase, Montgomery County, Maryland a suburb of Washington, D. C. Their third child, Barbara Susan was born in Bethesda, MD. and April 1, 1955.

Fred’s job transfer took him from aerospace to under water and surface water engineering at the US Navy David Taylor Model Basin. There he specialized in maneuvering naval vessels, particularly developing submarine designs that spanned postwar era to the more modern polaris models. He tested for the navy at Guantanamo Bay off Cuba, Hawaii, Cape Canaveral, Portsmouth Navy Yard in Kittery, ME, Groton, Conn., California, and Hawaii. He worked for them in Japan and also numerous European countries while living in Frankfurt, Germany. He retired from his Civil Service position after 37 years of government service. He then worked 8 years as a Marine Consultant for Robert Taggart. Inc. a marine research firm in Fairfax, VA. After retirement he worked at Marriott Corporation as a “trouble shooter” in the stock department. At their 60th reunion, Haverhill H.S. honored him as an outstanding member of the class of 1926.

An avid genealogist from the age of 20, he has bonded family ties for many generations. His love of travel and photography led to many shared “slide shows”, some filling churches with extended family members such as the Rogers in Ward Hill and Pettengills and Murrays in Haverhill,MA, and Imlays & Cresines in Nova Scotia. He made children laugh with endless stories of fanciful creatures, walking on his hands, dancing & singing. At 80 he first tried to water ski, at 92 to skate board, and still loved the wind blowing in his hair on a motorcycle ride. Some of his happiest achievements were helping others better themselves. Family was a top priority, honesty a prized possession, learning a delight. He said “what goes in your head is yours forever. Things can be taken from you.” Many lives were enriched by his encouragement to be the best you can be and have fun at it, to not let nay sayers keep you from accomplishing a goal, treasure knowledge, and above all have integrity.

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