Gravely Elementary honors namesake

Vice Adm. Samuel L. Gravely Jr. would have turned 87 Thursday and the pupils at the Haymarket area elementary school that bears his name him threw him one heck of a party.

Thursday school officials held a ceremony to officially dedicate Gravely Elementary School, which opened in September 2008.

Gravely was the first African-American to earn the rank of vice admiral in the Navy. He was also the first African-American to command a U.S. fleet.

He and his wife, Alma Gravely, retired in Haymarket, where she still lives.

Gravely died in 2004.

Signs of Gravely’s life and legacy can be seen throughout the new school: from the school’s mascot, a seadog name Flippers to its motto, “Success = Education + Motivation + Perseverance,” Gravely’s own life motto.

At Thursday’s ceremony, the U.S. Navy band played “Anchors Aweigh” and the National Anthem. Fourth- and fifth-graders sang other patriotic songs.

Cmdr. Douglas Kunzman, of the newly christened USS Gravely, a Navy destroyer named for Gravely last month, spoke to the children during the ceremony.

“This school and this ship are named after a great American hero,” he told the children. “We cannot let him down.”

Alma Gravely, 87, said she enjoys visiting the school and meeting with the children.

Earlier this week she helped the Gravely pupils complete a timeline of her late husband’s life.

“Usually when I walk in here, all of the children are pointing and saying ‘Oh, there’s Mrs. Gravely,” she said. “I love working with the children so I do pop in from time to time.”

During the ceremony, Gravely’s son, David Gravely, unveiled a portrait of his father, in full uniform, that will hang in the school.

“I think Sammy, as I called him, is up there looking down on all of us,” Alma Gravely said.

Staff writer Amanda Stewart can be reached at 703-878-8014.