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Home Town Oakland, CA
Date of Passing Aug 04, 2005
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CDR CHARLES ALDEN BLACK, Sr.
US Navy, WWII and Korea
Awarded the Silver Star
Charles Alden Black, born in Oakland on March 6, 1919, was a businessman and maritime expert, as well as the husband of former child star Shirley Temple Black.
Charles Black was the son of James Byers Black (1890-1965) and Katherine McElrath (1899-1984) of San Francisco, CA; grandson of John Edgar McElrath (1844-1907) and Elsie Ann Alden (1845-1936) of Oakland, and great-grandson of Solomon E. Alden.
Black attended Stanford University, where he earned both his bachelor's and master's degrees in Business. During World War II, he served as a naval intelligence officer in the southwest Pacific, first in Australia on Gen. Douglas MacArthur's staff, then with the 7th Fleet squadrons of motor torpedo boats. He was awarded the Silver Star for gallantry in action.During the Korean War, he was recalled to serve in naval intelligence in Washington, D.C., returning to the reserves in 1952 with the rank of commander. Black also served as a regent for Santa Clara University and helped established a youth charity.
Shirley Temple and Charles Black met in Honolulu, Hawaii in 1950, where Black had been working for a shipping company and got married that same year. Together they had two children: a son, Charles Jr.; a daughter, Lori, as well as raising Shirley Temple's daughter Susan, from her first marriage to John Agar.
The couple moved from Hawaii back to California, where Black started a fishing and hatchery company and worked as a consultant on maritime issues. He also served on a Commerce Department advisory committee as well as various national Research Council panels.
Black co-founded a Massachusetts-based company that developed unmanned deep-ocean search and survey imaging systems.
Charles Black died in 2005 at the age of 86 from complications of a bone marrow disease.
Other Comments:
Mr. Black was born in Oakland -- he descended from John Alden, one of the Mayflower pilgrims, and the Cherokee Indian chief Oconostota, his family said. He was raised in San Francisco, educated at the Hotchkiss School in Connecticut, and got his bachelor's degree from Stanford University in three years. He joined the Navy in 1941, and as an intelligence officer in the Pacific made more than 100 PT boat patrols. He also served as a scout behind enemy lines in Indonesia. Among several medals, he was awarded the Silver Star, one of the nation's highest for valor.
After the war, Mr. Black moved to Tahiti and, indulging his lifelong love of the sea, eventually sailed a small boat back to the United States over 7, 000 miles of ocean. During the Korean War, he was recalled to serve in naval intelligence in Washington, D.C., returning to the reserves in 1952 with the rank of commander.
Obituary: Charles Black, marine expert, dies
Date
Aug 10, 2005
Last Updated: Feb 13, 2014
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Publication Date: Wednesday, August 10, 2005
Obituary: Charles Black, marine expert, dies
Charles Alden Black of Woodside, an internationally recognized marine expert and the husband of former child star Shirley Temple Black, died August 4 of complications from myelodysplastic syndrome, a bone marrow disease. He was 86 and had suffered from the disease for nearly three years. Born in Oakland, he lived most of his early years in San Francisco, then was educated at the Hotchkiss School in Connecticut, and earned his bachelor degree in three years at Stanford University, where he was a member of Delta Upsilon fraternity.
He completed one year of study at Harvard School of Business before joining the U.S. Navy in 1941. After the war, he finished his master's degree in business at Stanford Business School, earning membership in Beta Gamma Sigma honor society.
During World War II, he served as a naval intelligence officer in the southwest Pacific, first in Australia on Gen. Douglas MacArthur's staff, then with the 7th Fleet squadrons of motor torpedo boats. He was awarded the Silver Star for gallantry in action.
During the Korean War, he was recalled to serve in naval intelligence in Washington, D.C., returning to the reserves in 1952 with the rank of commander.
Mr. Black had a lifelong love of the sea and twice crewed in the TransPacific Race from the Golden Gate to the finish line off Diamond Head.
He was an avid surfer in Hawaii after World War II, making his own board from kapok and mahogany, and worked for Castle & Cooke and Dole Hawaiian Pineapple.
In 1950 he met Shirley Temple when she was vacationing in Honolulu. A party was being given in her honor and Mr. Black, a handsome young bachelor, was invited.
He surfed every night after work and told the hostess he wouldn't come to the party if the surf was up. "We would never have met if the surfing was good that day," says Ms. Black. The couple was married later that year at his parents' Monterey ranch.
Mr. Black spent most of his professional life in marine/freshwater development and aquaculture engineering. He co-founded a marine hatchery for oysters and abalone at Pigeon Point in the early 1960s.
In 1966 he founded Mardela Corp., a fishing and hatchery company, and remained president and CEO until his death.
He was a maritime adviser to the Sultanate of Oman. He also co-founded the Marquest Group in Massachusetts, which developed unmanned deep-ocean search and survey imaging systems used in the discovery of the SS Titanic.
He served on a U.S. Commerce Department's advisory committee and on various National Research Council panels.
Mr. Black was a regent of the University of Santa Clara, and was a trustee and regent of the College of Notre Dame.
He was an active member of the Bohemian Club, and also belonged to the Pacific Union Club and the Menlo Country Club. He was one of the six co-founders of the Guardsmen, a San Francisco charity.
Mrs. Black, the most popular child star of all time, started her acting career at age 3 and starred in such hits as "Stand Up and Cheer" and "The Little Colonel." She and Mr. Black lived in Atherton and Woodside most of their married life.
Mr. Black is survived by his wife of 55 years, Shirley Temple Black; a son, Charles Jr.; daughters Lori and Susan; granddaughter Teresa; and brother Jim Black.
