Captain Gordon W. Krauss Scholarship
Gordon W. Krauss is an American entrepreneur who also served his nation in the United States Navy and Navy Reserve over a career of more than 30 years, where he attained the rank of Captain. He values knowledge, but most admires hard work, perseverance, and hands-on learning—attributes that lead to success.
Gordon W. Krauss was the only child of immigrant parents who settled in New Jersey after leaving Germany following the First World War. His parents embraced their new nation and his father, Gustav, eventually started a small machine shop, producing parts for companies such as RCA. Gordon Krauss excelled in track, wrestling, and football in high school. He had a love of flying and became a pilot by trading his labor at a local airport for flying lessons. He was the first member of his family to attend or graduate from college, receiving his bachelor’s degree from Wesleyan College.
After graduation, Gordon Krauss joined the United States Navy and became a Naval Aviator, serving as a Tactical Coordinator on P2V Neptune and WV Warning Star airplanes, among other anti-submarine aircraft. He was stationed at the Naval Air Station Argentia in Newfoundland, Canada, where his missions took him over the dangerously frigid North Atlantic in search of Soviet submarines. He was proud to be on a crew that would fly in difficult conditions in defense of his country. Even when the critical Strategic Air Command was grounded due to weather, his crew would fly. This was in a place where snow was so deep that they would lose snowplows. It was also in Newfoundland where Gordon Krauss met his future wife, the indomitable Rosemarie “Dolly” Stamp. There are unsubstantiated allegations that he occasionally used his position as radio operator while on a mission to contact the Cape Spear lighthouse in order to coordinate their dinner dates. He also fell in love with the wonderful people and geography of Newfoundland.
After completing his active duty service, Gordon Krauss returned to New Jersey and continued working in the machine shop his father founded. He especially enjoyed designing components in addition to manufacturing them. He helped design an airlock that permitted faster specimen exchange in scanning electron microscopes and worked on university-based scientific projects involving the transmission of light. He was a very active participant with a local high school vocational education program and sponsored several interns at his business. One intern said he learned more in six months there than 12 years of school.
After marrying Rosemarie and raising his family in New Jersey, Gordon Krauss was recalled to active duty service and worked on projects for the Navy in Washington, D.C. Among his contributions, he managed the 75-year-anniversary reenactment of the first crossing of the Atlantic Ocean by air, originally completed by the Navy NC4 flying boat in May of 1919. He later participated with a group that unsuccessfully attempted a solo circumnavigation of Earth by balloon. He was active with the Navy History Center in Washington, D.C., and in the Pentagon with antisubmarine aircraft and lighter-than-air research groups. After retiring from the Navy, he co-founded a radio parts production company, which also owns interest in some broadcasting stations.
Gordon Krauss currently lives with Rosemarie in Haddonfield, NJ. They spend summers in Aquaforte, Newfoundland, where they enjoy visiting friends and family, spotting moose on their property, and eating the delicious local cuisine.