When Rear Admiral John Messerschmidt was promoted to rear admiral upper half earlier this month, he gave credit to the values instilled in him while growing up in Elmhurst.
Messerschmidt, a 1975 Immaculate Conception High School graduate, specifically thanked the Catholic school faculty, and his parents, Fred and Anne Messerschmidt.
“I’m very, very proud to be from Elmhurst, and very proud to go to IC grade school and high school,” he said. “The nuns instilled a sense of service in me coupled with what my Mom and Dad taught me.”
Messerschmidt said he knew he wanted to join the Navy as a youth.
“In the days before the internet, I went to the library and pulled out this book on the Naval Academy, and I saw the amount of prestige, the chance to see the world,” he said. “I knew I wanted to devote my career to the Navy when I put my hand up on July 7, 1975.”
That was the day Messerschmidt entered the academy. After graduation, he served as a submarine warfare officer, nuclear engineer officer and submarine communications officer before transferring to the Navy Reserves in 1986 at about the time his first son was born.
“I wanted to settle in, it was a tough choice. I had the unique option to join the Navy Reserve and do it part time, so I started a Navy Reserve career and it too grew, next thing you know they’re promoting me,” he said.
Notable
Now a two-star admiral, Messerschmidt credits his success to the values instilled in him by his parents. His mother, Anne, still lives in Elmhurst. His late father, Fred, co-founder of Elmhurst Federal Savings and Loan Association, was inducted into the Elmhurst Civic Hall of Fame.
Quotable
“Who would’ve thunk growing up in Elmhurst so far away from water, 34 years later I’m still in the Navy, I’m very proud of my upbringing there.”
Philosophy
A failure to plan is a plan to fail.
Favorites
Place visited while on duty: China
Naval figure: Admiral Hyman Rickover, the “Father of the Nuclear Navy”
Book: “The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century” by Thomas Friedman
Part of Elmhurst: Impromptu summertime baseball games, Mom & Pop stores, penny candy stores on Spring Road
