Captain Jon David Harden

Captain Jon David Harden (USN Retired, USNA ’60) passed away peacefully of natural causes on January 2, 2024 at his home in Moyock, NC. David, as he was known to everyone, was always eager to greet you with a smile and made people feel welcomed.

Born April 6, 1938 to Jesse and Ruth Harden in Twin Falls, Idaho, David graduated from Camp Lejeune High School in 1956 before entering the United States Naval Academy. After graduation and commissioning, David became a naval aviator, sparking a life-long love of flying planes and spent many months on aircraft carriers and logged thousands of flight hours in the A6 Intruder, including service in Vietnam. Skill and bravery needed for the dangerous life of a military pilot- mention close call when his plane malfunctioned, requiring ejecting, landing safely in a field. As a Landing Signal Officer on aircraft carriers, he helped countless pilots land safely and innovated new equipment that he used to guide the planes.

He received his Master’s Degree in mathematics at the Naval Post-Graduate School in Monterey, CA, which included field research in Vietnam. Later in his career, he worked at COMNAVAIRLANT, the Pentagon, and COMFAIRWESTPAC serving on special programs and managing operations of many squadrons of aircraft. He retired from the Navy as a Captain, but continued to fly Learjets for Flight International on contracts with the military, taking him to Napoli, Italy to work with Southern Allied Command and the US Navy.

He loved sailing- on the Chesapeake Bay, ocean races to Bermuda, and skippered the Naval Academy yawls teaching midshipmen to sail, once with the “tall ships” in the 1976 Centennial celebration. He was very mechanical and loved working on cars – Corvettes and Corvairs in particular – earning him the nickname “Tinker”.

He met and married Robbie in 1964 and had two children, son Jon and daughter Ashlie. He married Janet in 1988, lived in Yorktown, VA. And was a great father figure for his step-son Marc Porterfield. David and Janet loved to travel, and spent time between Southern Shores in OBX North Carolina and California, enjoyed Navy carrier and submarine “dependent’s day” cruises, played Golf and were active with All Saint’s Episcopal Church, sang in the choir and loved their pet cats.

David was preceded in death by his wife, Janet, his sisters Carol and Treva, grandson Zachary.
He’s survived by his sons and daughter (list), as well as four grandchildren and two great grandchildren.

David will be celebrated with military honors on April 24, 2024 at 10:30am at the United States Naval Academy Chapel in Annapolis, MD. Please share condolences with this patriot’s family at www.gallopfuneralservices.com.