Obituaries

John J. ReedDefense, Construction Expert

John J. Reed, 79, former deputy assistant secretary of defense and former deputy assistant commissioner of the General Services Administration, died of a hemorrhagic stroke April 4 at North Carolina Memorial Hospital in Chapel Hill. He was a former resident of Alexandria.

Mr. Reed, a sixth-generation Washingtonian, served in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations from 1961 to 1969 as the head of a newly created organization in the Department of Defense responsible for management of the Military Family Housing Program. He helped oversee the withdrawal of U.S. military installations from France and was later awarded the Secretary of Defense Meritorious Service Medal.

During the late 1980s, Mr. Reed served as deputy assistant commissioner of the GSA and was responsible for overseeing major construction, rehabilitation and real estate leasing programs for federal agencies. He later worked in the office of the assistant secretary of the Army on base realignment and closure issues until his retirement in 1990.

Mr. Reed grew up in Alexandria and graduated from George Washington High School there. During World War II, he served on the personal staff of Navy Adm. Chester Nimitz, commander in chief of the Pacific Fleet.

He received an industrial engineering degree from Virginia Tech and a law degree from Georgetown University in 1956.

From 1958 to 1961, Mr. Reed served as executive assistant to the assistant secretary of the Navy. From 1969 to 1981, he was a partner in the Washington law firm Hudson & Creyke, specializing in construction contracts.

A die-hard Washington Redskins fan, Mr. Reed was a longtime season ticket-holder who once covered football as a sportswriter for the Virginia Tech student newspaper.

He was a resident of Pittsboro, N.C., where he moved from Alexandria a year and a half ago.

Survivors include his wife of 52 years, Addie Reed of Pittsboro; three children, Susan Jackson of Chevy Chase, Ann Hume of Chapel Hill and Dr. John Reed of Fayetteville, N.C.; and five grandchildren.

Earl Joseph SchmittNavy Commander, Comptroller

Earl Joseph Schmitt, 86, a Navy commander and comptroller of the Appalachian Regional Commission, died April 17 at Davis Health Care Center in Wilmington, N.C. He had Alzheimer's disease.

Mr. Schmitt, a Baltimore native and a graduate of Loyola College in Baltimore, received a master's degree from George Washington University in 1953. He served for 23 years in the Navy's Supply Corps, retiring in 1965 at the rank of commander.