Verne D. Finks

Verne D. Finks of Honolulu, San Francisco and Graz, Austria died at his home in San Francisco on Thursday, July 11 from natural causes. He was 95 years old.

A retired Captain in the U.S. Coast Guard, Captain Finks was born and raised in Honolulu. He was living with his mother and stepfather in the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard at the time of the Japanese attack in 1941. He attended Roosevelt High School in Honolulu and later graduated from Admiral Farragut Academy, a preparatory school in New Jersey.

Captain Finks graduated from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in 1946 and spent 29 years in the service. First a sea-going officer, he later became an aviator for 25 years. During his service, besides flight training, he graduated from Air Force Maintenance School and earned a Master’s Degree in Industrial Management from Purdue University.

On his retirement in 1975, Captain Finks and his family moved from Boston to Lafayette, California. He commenced studies in the humanities, long a field of interest, and completed studies for a Bachelor’s Degree in French and Italian, and a Master’s Degree in Comparative Literature at California State University Hayward and San Francisco State University.

Captain Finks was divorced from his wife, the former Catherine DeRusha, in 1980, and later married an Austrian citizen, Elke Eveline Hofer-Rudroff. Ms. Hofer and he travelled extensively for many years.

Captain Finks is survived by his wife, Elke, and two grandchildren. Services will be private. Donations may be made to a charity of one’s choice.