University of Oregon alumnus David Jeremiah died Oct. 7 at Walter Reed National Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., at age 79.

Jeremiah retired in 1994, ending his 38-year Navy career with a four-year tenure as vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under Army Gens. Colin Powell and John Shalikashvili.

Throughout Jeremiah’s military career, he served on seven Pacific Fleet destroyers, as a tactical leader in several missions in the Middle East, as a Cruiser-Destroyer Group 8 commander and director of air efforts to capture members of the Palestinian Liberation Front. He eventually took command of the Pacific Fleet.

In an address to the House of Representatives given in honor of Jeremiah’s retirement, Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo., stated, “As the ‘Keeper of the Seas,’ he is acknowledged to be a proven sailor whose years of experience at sea make him a professional and reliable shipmate in peace, and an exemplary leader in war.”

Jeremiah is survived by his wife, Connie Jo Jeremiah; daughters Krista Jeremiah Gautney and Jodi Jeremiah Oliver; and two grandchildren. He will be interred at Arlington National Cemetery, according to a death notice.

- by Katherine Cook, UO Office of Strategic Communications intern