BRUCE TINNENY DIES; NAVY HERO IN WAR - As a young man he
went off to war at age 18 serving in the United States
Navy Reserve in 1943. He signed up after his brothers
and several of his pals had enlisted. And he became a
hero in the waters of the North Atlantic war zone.
W. Bruce Tinneny, husband of Mrs. Dorothea Kottler
Tinneny, 4215 Pechin St. died Nov. 18 at home. He was
55. He was a member of the Disabled American War
Veterans.
Mr. Tinneny was commended by the Bureau of Naval
Personnel for "meritorious conduct during a hazardous
voyage." He was a member of a Naval Armed Guard Unit
aboard an American merchant ship that was subjected to
repeated attacks by a great number of German
submarines.
Mr. Tinneny's ship struck an underwater object and many
crewmembers, through a coincidence of separate signals,
believed the order had been given to abandon ship. They
took to the lifeboats leaving the engine room partially
unmanned. Mr. Tinneny hustled to the engine room.
The Naval commendation in citing his heroic effort said:
"Although such action was clearly beyond the scope of
your already assigned duty, you unhesitatingly
volunteered to take the place of the missing engine room
seaman and performed a difficult and unfamiliar task in
such a manner that the turbines were kept in operation
and a vital cargo was delivered to an ally." Mr.
Tinneny's ship made it to Murmansk.
The Navy Dept. said that Mr. Tinneny's "outstanding
co-operation and unfailing devotion to duty during the
emergency were in keeping with the best traditions of
the Naval service."
Mr. Tinneny is also survived by a son Bruce J.; a
daughter, Mrs.Gail McBride; four brothers, James; John;
Thomas and Donald; three sisters, Mrs. Mary Haughey;
Mrs. Clare Kelly; Mrs. Trudy Gallagher; and two
grandchildren.
Arrangements were by Koller Funeral Home, 6835 Ridge
Ave. Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated November 22
at St. John the Baptist Church. Burial was in
Westminister Cemetery.
Published in The Review, December 4, 1980.
Bruce was the son of James
J. and Gertrude Spence Tinneny of
Philadelphia and the grandson of Patrick
“Yankee Pat” Tinneny of
Goladuff, Newtownbutler, County Fermanagh, Northern
Ireland; Greenock, Scotland and Philadelphia and his
wife Margaret Malloy.
