Harry Seibert

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution has received word of the death July 28, 2000 of retiree Harry H. Seibert at his home in Sebastian, Florida. He was 81.

Harry Seibert worked in Marine Operations at the Institution from 1951 until his retirement in June 1974, many of those years as Captain of Research Vessel Gosnold.

Harry was born Jan. 12, 1919 in Martinsburg, West Virginia, and attended schools in Maryland, graduating from Foot Hill High School in Cumberland, MD. He served in the U.S. Coast Guard from 1938 to 1941, and in the U.S. Merchant Service from 1941 to 1945.

In 1951 Harry joined the WHOI staff as Second Mate on R/V Albatross III. He also served as First Mate aboard Albatross before transferring in 1953 to R/V Bear, where he remained First Mate until 1959. Harry then served as Captain of a number of WHOI vessels, including R/Vs Bear in 1959, Aries in 1960, Eugenie in 1961 and Gosnold from 1962 to 1973. After a month aboard R/V Lulu as First Mate in 1973, he returned to serve as Captain of Gosnold until his retirement from WHOI in June 1974.

Harry and his wife, Genevieve, moved from Falmouth to Vero Beach, Florida, in 1974 when Gosnold was transferred to Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution in Fort Pierce, Florida. He continued working there as a captain until he retired.

In addition to his wife, he is survived by a son, Wayne L. Seibert, of Merrimack, NH; a daughter, Daune L. Lauzon of Falmouth, MA; four grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.

A funeral service was held in Florida August 1. A memorial service was held in Falmouth August 20, 2000 a the John Wesley United Methodist Church.