Louis (Lou) Edward Rine, 78, of Washington, D.C., passed away peacefully on October 30th 2025.

Born in 1947 in San Antonio, Texas, he joined the U.S. Navy in 1965. He was a Veteran of the Vietnam War. During the war, he served aboard the U.S.S. Carronade IFS-1 homeported in Yokosuka, Japan. He was awarded the Vietnam Service Medal, Vietnam Campaign Medal, Vietnam Armed Forces Meritorious Unit Commendation, and Navy Expeditionary Medal. His firsthand story is forever preserved as part of the Library of Congress’s Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center. To learn more about his story, go to: https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.104300/.

While in the U.S. Navy, Lou travelled the world. He would fondly recall his posting to Diego Garcia, a joint U.S.-U.K. military base in the Indian Ocean. He would tell stories of giant coconut crabs, scuba diving with stingrays, and making jewelry out of cowrie shells.

Lou served for 20 years in the U.S. Navy. His service brought him to the Philippines, Guam, Hawaii, California, Virginia, and South Carolina. As a Petty Officer First Class, he was a leader and technical expert in the field of Communications. He also served as a U.S. Navy recruiter. In 1985, he retired from the U.S. Navy to begin his career with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission in Washington, D.C.

After his time in the U.S. government, life brought him to Louisiana where he married Norma Benoit and lived in Lake Arthur for twenty years. Several years after her death, he returned to the Washington, D.C. area to live with his daughter and her family.  

Lou had a love of family, adventure, country and oldies music, and southern food. As a young boy, he and his brother would explore Galveston, TX, fish with cane poles, and hunt rattlesnakes. As a father, he shared his love of music (Elvis Presley, Patsy Cline, and Loretta Lynn), taught his kids to fish, and play backgammon. As a grandfather, he would marvel his grandkids with card tricks and loved to make them laugh.

He is survived by his daughter, Carol Crane; his grandchildren, Dominique Crane, Jayden Crane, and Michelle Rine; his son, Michael Rine; his first wife, Bernadette Bailly; and his brother, Patrick Rine.

A funeral service will be held at the Rose Chapel, 140 Rock Creek Church Rd., NW, Washington, D.C., at 12 noon. A reception will follow at the Armed Forces Retirement Home (Old Soldier’s Home) with all the southern food he loved to eat.

If you're not able to attend in person, clink the link below and watch live.

https://client.tribucast.com/tcid/f25111558536532

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Warrior Canine Connection, a 501 c(3) non-profit that trains and provides service dogs to wounded Veterans. https://warriorcanineconnection.org/get-involved/donate/.