USA: Final Salute Given to 21st Chief of Navy Chaplains

Navy chaplains gathered with family and friends to pay tribute to the life and legacy of the 21st Chief of Navy Chaplains at a memorial service at the Fort Myer Chapel aboard Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall in Arlington, Va., Jan. 25.

Retired Rear Adm. Barry Black, chaplain of the U.S. Senate, and Capt. Gary P. Weeden, chaplain of the U.S. Coast Guard, were among the Navy chaplains present to pay their respects to Rear Adm. Byron A. Holderby, Jr. who served in the Navy Chaplain Corps from 1967-2000.

Rear Adm. Margaret G. Kibben, deputy chief of Navy Chaplains and chaplain of the Marine Corps, read from a Christian scripture passage from Psalm 30 stating:

“Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes in the morning. You have turned my mourning into dancing … You have clothed me with joy.”

In her message, Kibben reflected on “many of us in ministry whom he mentored and led to appreciate the special calling to serve in the Chaplain Corps.

Following the memorial service, Rear Adm. Mark L. Tidd, current chief of Navy Chaplains, oversaw the committal service held in Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors.

Holderby was born in Norfolk, Va. He graduated from the College of William & Mary and the Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, and was pastor of St. John Lutheran Church in Roanoke, Va.

In 1967, he became a Navy chaplain. His duty stations included Japan, Camp Lejeune, Jacksonville, Fla., Guantanamo Bay, Okinawa, Wales, Hawaii, the U.S. Naval Academy, where he was named an honorary member of the class of 1957, and Washington, D.C.

[mappress]
Naval Today Staff, January 30, 2013; Image: US Navy