* Joseph J. Gaunt; Navy Retiree, NOW Member

Joseph J. Gaunt of Oxnard, a longtime machinist with the U. S. Navy, has died after a long illness.

He was 72.

“Chief,” as he was known to some, was born May 31, 1924, in Pleasantville, N. J.

He served in the Navy as a machine repair chief specialist, retiring after 22 years of service. He then worked for the Navy as a security specialist, retiring after 20 years of civil service.

Gaunt was an active member of the American Assn. of Retired Persons, the National Organization for Women and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

“A lot of people make comments about this Navy man being involved in NOW,” said Gaunt’s daughter, Joe Ann Pellini. “He was traditional in many ways but with a wife and three daughters in the house, that led to a strong belief in the Equal Rights Amendment.”

Pellini and her mother, Lillian Vieth, helped resurrect a NOW chapter in Ventura and Oxnard in the late 1970s.

Joseph Gaunt joined his wife and daughter a few years later, and like the rest of the family became a familiar face at NOW “actions,” such as marches and letter-writing campaigns.

He was eventually elected to vice president in charge of the action committee for the Ventura-Oxnard chapter of NOW.

“My mother and I must have rubbed off on him,” Pellini said. “We’re very proud of him.”

Gaunt counted model ship-building among his hobbies, and he enjoyed working on his computer.

Gaunt is survived by Vieth, his wife of 48 years; three daughters, Pellini of Mechanicsville, Md., Mary Robbins of Waldorf, Md., and Laura Ford of Oxnard; two sons, Robert Gaunt Sr. of Oak View and Joseph Gaunt Jr. of Oxnard, four grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

A military dockside service with full honors is planned for next Friday at 11 a.m. at the Construction Battalion Center Base dock. Those wishing to attend may call Guardian Funeral Directors & Crematory at 485-2572 for directions.

A private burial at sea will follow the ceremony aboard a military vessel.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to PETA or NOW.