Vic and Pat Gulliver met while attending the University of Southern California in Los Angeles and married after graduation and Vic’s commissioning through the NROTC program. After flight training, a tour in VP-2 from 1959 to 1963 was their first real experience at Navy life. The small town atmosphere of Oak Harbor, the close-knit camaraderie of squadron-mates that resulted from arduous and distant squadron operations, and the many friendships that were formed in that first squadron were the basis for the decision to make the Navy a career.
Subsequent tours of duty took the Gullivers to Coronado CA, Newport RI, Patuxent River MD, Norfolk VA, Monterey CA, Jacksonville FL, Washington DC, London England, and Evanston, IL. Highlights of Vic’s thirty year Navy career included a LCDR tour in a P3A squadron (VP-49) in Pax River, MD that deployed to Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War, command of a P3C squadron (VP-49) in JAX that deployed to Keflavik, Iceland, getting a master’s degree from the Navy Postgraduate School, graduating from the Naval War College and the National War College, serving as a branch head on the CNO’s staff and as the CNO’s Secretary for JCS Matters in the Pentagon, serving as the Executive Assistant and Senior Aide to CINCUSNAVEUR in London, and having a full five-year command as Professor of Naval Science at the Naval ROTC Unit at Northwestern University.
Along the way, Vic and Pat raised four children. Pat did most of the raising since Vic was gone a lot. Glen and Jon graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy. Anne began university life in Europe and came back to the U.S. to graduate from Northwestern University. David, after a tour in the Air Force, graduated from Southern Illinois University and the University of Oregon, where he earned his JD degree. Glen is now a captain with United Airlines. Jon is now a captain with Delta Airlines. Anne is now a flight attendant with American Airlines and also has a real estate practice. David is the Chief of Staff for an Oregon state representative.
Vic retired from the Navy in 1987 and worked as a corporate business manager for several years before retiring for good. Vic and Pat live in Glenview, IL and travel as much as possible to see their kids and grandkids, most of whom are scattered across the country, and to visit exotic vacation spots. Vic considers any place worth fishing as an exotic vacation spot. Vic and his sons have made several trips to Kodiak, Alaska (where Vic experienced three VP-2 deployments) to take advantage of the excellent trout and salmon fishing. No summer is complete without several trout fishing trips in the Rockies where Glen and Jon now live.
Throughout Vic’s career, Pat was an enthusiastic participant in all the officers’ wives activities, serving at many duty stations as a Navy Relief advisor, Navy thrift shop worker, and counselor to all the squadron wives when Vic was XO and then CO of the squadron.
In retirement, Vic is the president of The Naval ROTC Scholarship Fund, providing scholarship grants to Northwestern NROTC midshipmen, chairman of the Horner Foundation of the Naval Order of the U.S., which provides scholarship grants to all Illinois NROTC universities, and is an officer in the Illinois Commandery of the Naval Order. Vic is also active as a Director of the VP-2 Association. Pat is president of the Glenview Officers Wives Club and is president of the Northwestern wives’ Social Services organization.
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