Monterey – Laine McDaniel, born in Abington, Pennsylvania, was the first child of Charlotte and Delaplaine (Delly) McDaniel. Two forces in his early years were Quakerism and figure skating. He was a lifelong member of Chestnut Hill Friends Meeting and the U.S. Figure Skating Association. He attended local Quaker schools and graduated from his father’s and uncle’s alma mater, Westtown School, in 1943. Delly and Laine were awarded the first two (and probably only!) figure skating letters from Westtown.
In 1945, Laine graduated from the University of Louisville in the Navy V-12 program with a degree in mechanical engineering and later completed graduate courses at the University of Pennsylvania. He served on the diesel submarine, USS Medregal, as chief engineer and was taught to drink martinis and eat artichokes in Havana by his skipper, Raul Perez. Next he volunteered for the new nuclear submarine program, first the USS Nautilus prototype for three months as Adm. Rickover’s representative at Arco, Idaho. He then worked at the Knolls Atomic Power Lab in Schenectady as startup engineer on the second nuclear submarine prototype, USS Seawolf.
In 1955 Laine left the Navy and came to San Jose when GE opened its Nuclear Energy Division. He held one of the first five Atomic Energy Commission licenses to operate the Vallecitos Boiling Water nuclear reactor, the world’s first commercial nuclear power plant. He was startup operations manager for Dresden I, the first nuclear power plant in the U.S., owned by Commonwealth Edison. His career with GE placed him in charge of the first nuclear power plants in Spain, Germany and Japan as well as sites throughout the U.S. Throughout Laine’s GE career he served in the Naval Reserve on submarines and retired from the Reserve as a captain in 1967. He held a U.S. Coast Guard Licensed Master 100 Ton. After a 29-year career with GE he retired in 1982.
Throughout his life Laine judged figure skating with USFSA (as did his father and brother), became a high test judge and was designated Judge Emeritus by USFSA in 2003. He was a past member of the Philadelphia Skating Club, the Silver Edge Skating Club and its President in Sunnyvale and the Peninsula Skating Club in San Jose.
Laine and Janet Carol Blackman were married October 5, 1980 in Saratoga, California. Implicit in their wedding vows was the unspoken understanding that they would go cruising on the new sailboat Capella when Laine retired from General Electric. At a farewell party in the summer of 1984 when Janet was fussing and fretting about going offshore, Laine’s dearest friend, Harry Pfeifer, looked her in the eye and said “You know, don’t you, that no one will ever be better prepared than Laine.” Harry was right, and Janet never forgot it! Laine sailed all his life on Pennsylvania’s lakes and the Pacific from the San Juan Islands to Newport and of course San Francisco Bay. Boats that he owned were Too Young To (sloop), Galatea, Capella (ketch), Capella (cutter) and Aileen, a Shields design. In 1984 he and Janet sailed the “South Pacific Milk Run” to Mexico, the Marquesas, the Tuamotus, Society Islands and Hawaiian Islands, returning to the mainland in 1986. In 1988, they sailed Capella south to Zihuatanejo, Mexico and then completed the hard windward passage to San Diego. In 1989 they bought California Condor, a power boat, in Holland and spent three long idyllic summers on the rivers and canals through Holland, Belgium, France and down the Rhone to the Med. Let us be clear that Laine was not a gunkholer! Navigating, keeping the boat moving and correcting problems were his forte! At various points in his life Laine was a member of the Carmel Ski Club, Haasis Hikers, the Mayflower Society, Mission Ranch Tennis Club, Golden Gate Yacht Club, Monterey Peninsula Yacht Club, Monterey Peninsula County Club and the Stillwater Club. Other passions included aviation (commercial pilot and flight instructor), SCUBA, ham radio (N6JLW), model ship building, horseback riding, fast cars and motorcycles, fly fishing and summers at Pocono Lake Preserve.
Laine is survived by his wife, Janet; his daughter, Cynthia (Sig) Johansen; grandson, Laine Johansen; his brother, Chase (Sue) McDaniel; his sister, Nancy McDaniel Miller and six nieces and nephews. As he wished Laine will be buried at sea by the United States Navy. Memorials to Laine may be made to Westtown School, 975 Westtown Road, West Chester, PA 19382-5700, Attn: Director of Advancement.
Arrangements are under the direction of The Paul Mortuary, Pacific Grove, CA.
Simplicity, Sincerity, Service…a Life Well Lived
