Retired Rear Adm. Paul Lacy Jr., a 30-year Hawaii resident who served as a Hawaii state representative and was instrumental in bringing the submarine USS Bowfin to Pearl Harbor, will be buried Nov. 26 at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl.
Lacy died July 14 at age 92 in Cohasset, Mass.
On Sept. 2, 1945, Lacy, then a young naval officer, was present at the surrender ceremony at the end of World War II on the deck of the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay. He was asked to serve as a representative of the USS Sea Cat, the submarine he served on.
Lacy also was the only submarine commander ever to fire a live nuclear missile.
On May 6, 1962, as commander of the USS Ethan Allen, Lacy ordered the launch of a nuclear missile in the central Pacific Ocean, part of a test called "Frigate Bird." The 600-kiloton warhead, carried aboard a Polaris A-2 missile, detonated in the ocean northeast of Christmas Island.
A photo of the large mushroom cloud that resulted is on display at the USS Bowfin Submarine Museum & Park at Pearl Harbor.
While on R&R in Hawaii in 1945, Lacy met Honolulu native Katherine Kerley at a Waikiki hotel. They wed in his hometown of Dallas in 1946, but later returned to Hawaii.
Lacy was promoted to rear admiral in 1967, and served as commander of the Pacific Fleet Submarine Force from 1970 to 1972.
Upon his retirement in 1973, the couple moved to his wife’s family home in Nuuanu.
Lacy turned his attention to local politics. He got his start by participating in the 1978 Hawaii State Constitutional Convention.
He was later elected to the state House and served two terms as a Republican representing Waikiki.
Charles Hinman, education and outreach director at the USS Bowfin Museum, said Lacy, with the help of the late U.S. Sen. Dan Inouye, was instrumental in bringing the World War II sub to Pearl Harbor, and aided in the development of the museum and park.
After his wife’s death in 1998, Lacy continued to live in Honolulu until 2003, when he moved to Massachusetts to be closer to his children.
He is survived by sons William, Craig and Jon; daughter Sheryl Lacy Anderson; seven grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren.
Graveside services will be held 10:30 a.m. at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. Aloha attire is requested. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in his memory to St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, Cohasset, MA 02025; or to the USS Bowfin Submarine Museum, 11 Arizona Memorial Drive, Honolulu 96818.
