Neil Claiborne Porter

Captain Neil C. Porter of Newport, Rhode Island passed away peacefully on November 13th, 2015. He was 102 years old. Captain Porter was the son of Mr. Irvine Craig Porter and Mrs. Alethea Wallace Porter. He was born in Colgate, Oklahoma on January 17th 1913 and raised in Homewood, Alabama. Captain Porter joined the Navy as a Naval Aviation Cadet in Pensacola, Florida in 1936. As a Cadet he trained in open cockpit aircraft. After being awarded his Navy wings, he was assigned to Patrol Squadron-5 which was stationed at the Naval Submarine Base in Coco Solo, Panama. Prior to the war he participated in preventive U-boat operations in the Caribbean referred to as neutrality patrols. It was in Panama that he met and married his wife, Miss Madeline Ritt of Newport, RI. Immediately prior to the start of WW II he was an instructor pilot at Pensacola, FL. In 1943 he was assigned as executive officer (XO) to a Navy armed reconnaissance squadron (VD-3) flying the Navy version of the B-24 called the PBY-4M. As XO, he was credited with five victories over enemy aircraft making him one of the few patrol plane aces in the Navy. He later was assigned as Commanding Officer of that squadron. In 1944, he was assigned as the air operations officer on the staff of Admiral Kincaid where he planned complex operations for the U.S. 7th fleet for the Battle of the Philippine Sea and Iwo Jima. During the war, Captain Porter was awarded four Distinguished Flying Crosses, one Bronze Star and four Air Medals. After the war, Captain Porter had a variety of Navy assignments including Executive Officer of the USS Gilbert Islands (CVE-107) stationed at Quonset Point, RI, Commanding Officer of a Naval Air Transport Squadron of DC-6 aircraft (VR-22) in Norfolk, Virginia and Commanding Officer of the Naval Air Facility at Lajes Field in the Azores. His final assignment was the Naval War College in Newport. He retired from the Navy in 1962 and remained in Newport with his wife in family.Captain Porter was predeceased by his wife of 60 years, Madeline Ritt Porter. He is survived by their two sons Neil C. Porter Jr. and his wife Marilyn of Anchorage, Alaska and Charles R. Porter and his wife Betsy of Warrenton, Virginia. He is also survived by four grandchildren and one great-grandson.During his retirement, Captain Porter was active at Trinity Church, the Newport Art Association, the Clambake Club, the Newport Garden Club and Redwood Library. He also enjoyed fishing, his garden and is known for single-handedly deconstructing a Victorian house that he purchased and turning the old materials into an extraordinarily eclectic body of art and subjects for his and his wife's paintings. Captain Porter graduated from the University of Maryland and the U.S. Naval War College in Newport.A Celebration of Life will be held at Trinity Episcopal Church, Queen Anne's Square, Newport on Friday, November 20th, 2015 at 11:30AM. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Newport Garden Club, c/o Polly Meadows, 2 Coggeshall Way, Middletown, RI, 02842 or Trinity Church, 141 Spring Street, Newport, RI 02840, or The Redwood Library 50 Bellevue Avenue, Newport, RI or the Newport Art Association, 76 Bellevue Avenue, Newport, RI are requested. Service NOV 20. 11:30 AM Trinity Church Queen Annes Square Newport, RI, US