Gluck, 89, Taught Gunnery in WWII At N.A.S. Wildwood

SAN DIEGO, CALIF. — Imogene Gluck, a longtime Wildwood hotelier and prior to that, teacher of gunnery to World War II naval aviators at Naval Air Station Wildwood passed away at age 89 here on Sept. 9.
“Gene” as she was known, according to her obituary in the San Diego Union, was an accomplished pianist who, as a young adult, entered college to become a teacher.
Wanting to do her part for victory in the Second World War, she volunteered to become a Navy W.A.V.E. and taught the fine art of gunnery at the Erma air station.
It was there she met her husband, Alexander Gluck. Once peace was achieved, and they left the service, the Glucks wed, and became a Wildwood institution operating the Grand View Hotel and gift shop for over 50 years.
Alexander passed away in 1997, and Imogene went West to live with her brother Frank Williams. They both lived in Flinn Springs, Calif. until his passing in 2009.
She is survived by Frank’s children, grandchildren and a great-grandchild.
In the June 7, 2000 Herald, the late Editor Joe Zelnik wrote an extensive story about Imogene. Its headline read, “Teaching the Hell-Divers’ Gunners; Film at 7.”
On that day, Zelnik wrote, she was to return to Hangar No. 1 to recount her military service that started locally in 1944.
“On her first day, she met Specialist First Class Alexander Gluck, a Philadelphia native who had led the first contingent of enlisted men to the station 11 months prior.”
The then 77-year-old ex-WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) was prepared to give a lecture, accompanied by slides, that included her experiences as a World War II gunnery specialist, training crews primarily for the “Hell-Diver” SB2C dive bomber “Also called The Beast,” she told Zelnik.
Gluck had been the only female serving at N.A.S. Wildwood, something that caused her a bit of uneasiness. A caring chief petty officer took compassion on her plight and allowed her to dine with them, in a separate dining facility than the enlisted men.
Gluck was taught the fine points of naval air free gunnery at Pensacola, Fla.
After the war and marriage, Gluck worked in public relations and with Wildwood radio station WCMC at Maple and New Jersey avenues. She was part of a morning talk show entitled “Jean and George.”
The Glucks bought the Grand View Hotel at Baker and the Boardwalk in 1952, and operated it and related shops until retirement in 1994.
“She would never trade the Navy experience,” Zelnik wrote.
“All of us joined to do the best we could at a time we really believed we would make a difference,” she said. “All things considered, I surely would join again. Especially if I were to be assured that my service would be here at Wildwood Naval Air,” Gluck concluded in Zelnik’s story.