The International Propeller Club selected RADM Wayne Justice, USCG (Ret) as the 2023 Maritime Person of the Year. Justice was first named The Propeller Club of Port Canaveral Maritime Person of the year in April and his name was put forward at the Propeller Club Southeast Region conference held in Savannah where he was selected as the Southeast Region Maritime Person of the Year as well. Justice currently serves on the Canaveral Port Authority Board of Commissioners. He was first elected to the Board in 2014 and is now serving his third term. He has served as Chairman twice, first in 2018 and again in 2021, leading the commission during the severe challenges of the pandemic. Port Canaveral is the world’s busiest cruise ship port and is a major economic engine for the Space Coast and Central Florida. Justice is a 1977 graduate of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and earned Masters’ degrees from Nova University and the U.S. Naval War College. His 37 year Coast Guard career culminated with command of the Fifth Coast Guard District which covers the Nations’s mid-Atlantic region from New Jersey to North Carolina. Other assignments included Assistant Commandant for Capability, Director of Response Policy, Seventh Coast Guard District Chief of Staff, and Coast Guard Aide to Presidents Bush and Clinton where his responsibilities included carrying the nuclear football. He commanded four Coast Guard cutters, three of which were homeported in Florida. Justice has served on the Propeller Club of Port Canaveral Board for over ten years. He also volunteers and serves with other community non-profits including Crosswinds Youth Services of Melbourne; the Military Officers Association of America, Cape Canaveral Chapter; and the Navy League, Space Coast Council. The Propeller Club of Port Canaveral is proud that RADM Justice, has been recognized by the International Propeller Club for his service to our nation, the maritime industry, Port Canaveral, and our community! A presentation was made at the International Propeller Club Annual Convention held in September in Charleston, South Carolina.
MARITIME PERSON OF THE YEAR 2022
The Propeller Club of Port Canaveral has named Kurt and Norma Ronstrom as Maritime Persons of the Year for 2022. Kurt is a Charter Member of the Propeller Club of Port Canaveral, a Past President and is also Past President and longtime member of the Navy League, Cape Canaveral Council. Norma has worked side by side with Kurt volunteering with these organizations and working at their businesses. The couple met in Miami and were married in 1959. Kurt was born on the island of Gotland, Sweden and ran away to sea at the age of sixteen, eventually becoming a Marine Engineer aboard Swedish cargo vessels. He served in the Swedish Navy for 1 ½ years. Norma was born in Bradford PA. and after college at Edinboro State Teacher’s College, the Cleveland Institute of Art, and Western Reserve University, she moved to Hollywood, Florida and worked for Southern Bell. After they were married Kurt was drafted and served 2 years in the U.S. Army. He became a U.S. citizen in 1961. Together they raised four children and are proud grandparents and great grandparents!
Kurt founded KMD Ship Repair, Inc. in Miami and later relocated to Port Canaveral. He did ship repair work on a variety of vessels, especially Navy vessels and cruise ships. When he lived in Miami he helped found the Seafarer’s Ministry and later was involved in starting the Seafarer’s Ministry at Port Canaveral. He is well known for his many years of cooking lunches for visiting Seafarers at the Canaveral Port Ministry about once every three months with support from the Navy League and the Propeller Club. Kurt instituted and has led the Port Canaveral Maritime Day commemoration for twenty years beginning in May of 2001, again with the support of the Navy League and the Propeller Club. Norma was instrumental in managing and planning events for these non-profit organizations and in KMD business operations. In addition, she has volunteered extensively playing the piano at Church services including for over 20 years with the Salvation Army. At one time she was playing the piano at three different churches every Sunday.
Together Kurt and Norma have had a tremendous impact on bringing together the Maritime Community in the Port Canaveral area and beyond through their many years of dedicated service especially in their efforts with Seafarer Ministries and in making sure that Merchant Mariners and the Maritime industry receive due recognition and honor. The Propeller Club of Port Canaveral is proud to honor them as Maritime Persons of the Year for 2022 and to give them well deserved recognition for a lifetime of service.
MARITIME PERSON OF THE YEAR 2021
RADM Bob & Bev Merrilees are the Propeller Club of Port Canaveral Maritime Persons of the Year for 2021. The Merrilees have been long time Board members of the Propeller Club. Bob was a founding member and Bev previously served as Secretary. They have volunteered for and sponsored numerous events, committees and projects including the ShrimpFeast fundraisers.
Bob had a dual career in the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve and the Federal Government. He enlisted in the Coast Guard Reserve in August 1961 and received a Direct Commission in 1964. He served as Senior Reserve Officer in both the Coast Guard Pacific Area and Atlantic Area from June 1990 until his retirement in July 1994. Bob’s civilian profession was Federal Budgeting up until five years before he retired in January 1998, when he became the Community Relations Officer for NASA, Kennedy Space Center, Florida. Because of his Coast Guard experience he was asked to plan and lead the Coast Guard Reserve’s Space Shuttle Launch Support program. Bev capped off a 30 year federal government career in personnel by serving as Kennedy Space Center Chief of Personnel from 1993 to 1998 when she retired. She received the KSC Federal Woman of the Year Award for 1988, the Exceptional Achievement Medal, and the Exceptional Leadership Medal. Both Bob and Bev have served on numerous community and non-profit boards. Bob served as national President of the Reserve Officers Association of the United States from 2003-2004 and is a Past President of the Cape Canaveral Lighthouse Foundation.
The Propeller Club is proud and honored to recognize their contributions to our club, the community, our nation; their tireless promotion of Port Canaveral and the maritime industry and their unwavering support for the men and women of the U.S. Coast Guard!
List of Previous Maritime Persons of the Year
2022 Kurt & Norma Ronstrom
2021 Bev & Bob Merrilees
2020 Malcolm “Mac” McLouth
2019 Gary Ledford
2018 Rocky Johnson
2017 Capt. John Murray
2016 Capt. Peter Richards
2014 Tom Weinberg