Cap'n Otto Giese
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The following anouncement was published Sunday, November 4, 2001, in the Pensacola News Journal. PHILIP OTTO GIESE Philip Otto Giese, 86, Sarasota, died September 29, 2001. Captain Otto Giese was a native of Germany and since 1968, a U.S. citizen. He was born November 8, 1914 in Bremen, Germany. Starting in 1933, he served aboard square-riggers and numerous ocean going freighters, after which he attended the German nautical academy for his mate's license. During World War II, he served as a German merchant marine officer aboard an ocean liner and as a naval officer on blockade runners and U-boats in the Far East, North Atlantic, and Indian Ocean. Capt. Giese published his memoirs with numerous photographs of this early life at sea in Shooting the War: Memoirs of a World War II U-Boat Officer. After World War II, he obtained a master's license and started his own shipping line, which operated in the North Sea, the Baltic, the Carribean, and the Far East. In 1964, after over 30 years at sea, he retired. He and his pipe became a fixture at the Port of Pensacola for nearly 20 years as pier superintendent and manager of Fillette Green Steamship Agency. He retired again in 1981 and moved to Sarasota in 2000. Survivors include his wife, Vivian; two daughters, Vivian F. Clack of Sarasota, FL and Gabriele of Germany; two sons, Philip of Atlanta, GA, and Jon of Tampa, FL; two sisters, Addi Muller and Stavi Kortcamp, both of Germany; three grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren. A memorial service will be held at First Presbyterian Church of Pensacola on November 17, 2001 at 11:00 a.m. Memorial donations can be made to First Presbyterian Church Memorial Fund, 33. E. Gregory St., Pensacola, FL 32501. |