Obituaries

-- Patricia Sullivan

Frederick J. SimmondsComputer Systems Analyst

Frederick J. Simmonds, 78, a retired computer systems analyst with the Army's Information Systems Software Center at Fort Belvoir, died July 16 at his home in Dumfries of complications from Alzheimer's disease.

Mr. Simmonds was born in Freehold, N.J., and enlisted in the Navy shortly after graduating from high school. He served during the Korean War and retired as a chief petty officer after 7 1/2 years.

He went to work for the federal government at Fort Monmouth, N.J., in 1954 and moved to Fort Belvoir shortly afterward. Later, at the Pentagon, he was appointed as the Army standards representative to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

He became affiliated with the Information Systems Software Center when he was assigned to manage a group charged with standardizing computer language for all the Allied nations. He retired in 1990.

Mr. Simmonds was an award-winning athlete. Becoming a dedicated weightlifter at 35, he won tournaments in 1984 and 1988, and at 54 won first place in the men's master's division of the Virginia powerlifting championships in Newport News.

In 1992, he won the Virginia master's powerlifting competition with a total lift of 987 pounds.

He used his fight against Alzheimer's disease to help others. In 2007, he was the ambassador of the Four Seasons 5K Alzheimer's Walk in Dumfries. He was a member of Our Lady of Angels Catholic Church in Woodbridge.

Survivors include his wife of 54 years, Helen Simmonds of Dumfries; four children, Kathleen Diett of Fredericksburg, Jean Simmonds of Arlington, Eileen Simmonds-Glick of Woodbridge and Fredrick Simmonds Jr. of Garrisonville, Va.; five grandchildren; and a great-granddaughter.

-- Joe Holley