Calvert Foote was born on April 22, 1922 in Chester, South Dakota ; his father was a minister who later served as the Methodist superintendent of the Scranton area in Forty Fort, Pennsylvania. Calvert attended the Wyoming Seminary and enrolled in Dickinson with the class of 1944 on September 19, 1940.
Known as "Jack", he left the College on the outbreak of war and attempted, unsuccessfully, to enlist in the armed services. He was accepted to the Merchant Marine Academy by competitive examination, however, and following several months of instruction was assigned to his first ship on his twentieth birthday. Cadets often joined ships while still enrolled, many lost their lives, and the institution is the only service academy permitted to fly battle honors.
Cadet Foote's immediate assignment was to the Arctic Convoys and in late July 1942, his ship was sunk by enemy action somewhere between Iceland and Russia. The ship was possibly a part of the ill-fated convoy "PQ17" which lost 23 of 34 merchant ships during those weeks. Calvert Foote was declared "missing and presumed lost," the first Dickinsonian to perish in the conflict.
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[Item is connected to the Hoke public tree in Ancestry.com that has his mother's name as Lillian Irene Gibson.]
