My Jack
LTC (Ret) Henry J. “Jack” Reed, rocket scientist, amateur radio operator (a.k.a. “HAM”), photographer, American Red Cross Volunteer, and INSPIRE board member, died from a heart attack on Nov. 5, 2009, in Arlington.
Jack was born in 1945 in Washington D.C., the only child of Henry J. and Marjorie (nee Friday) Reed. After his father’s death in a 1959 Capital Airlines turbojet crash near Baltimore, he moved with his mother to her hometown of Charleston, SC.
After graduating from Clemson University in 1967, he was commissioned into the Army, serving in Vietnam, Korea, West Germany, and several assignments in the United States, earning the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star, Meritorious Service Medal, Air Force Organizational Excellence Award, Overseas Service Ribbon, Vietnam Service Medal, Vietnam Campaign Medal, among others. During his Army career he completed two masters’ degrees in engineering from University of Texas at El Paso, and from University of Southern California.
Retiring in 1990 as a Lieutenant Colonel, he and his wife, Barbara Clemens, settled in Arlington VA. Working for Nichols Research, and then Computer
Science Corporation, he helped develop missile and sensor technology.
A HAM radio operator since a teen, Jack, WA4FXX, was President of the Arlington Amateur Radio Club for 11 years, a 13-year volunteer at the Smithsonian’s
NN3SI station, and a member of the Pentagon Amateur Radio Club.
Jack was an American Red Cross volunteer at the Arlington County Chapter of the American Red Cross, which sponsored the Arlington Amateur Radio Club and provided space for its station, meeting, and other activities. Through those associations, he participated in many emergency preparation exercises.
As a means of helping his community be better prepared for and able to respond to emergencies. Jack – along with wife, Barbara – completed Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training in Arlington, VA in 2006. He was an active member of the County’s CERT, as well as his neighborhood team.
Jack was also a board member of The INSPIRE Project, an organization, partnered with NASA, to provide hands-on opportunities for students of all ages to enhance their knowledge of space science.
His work as a photographer was published in the 2008/2009 Washington Project for the Arts Directory, and his work can be viewed on their website.
Besides an exhibition of his work at the Arlington County Central Library, his work was also included in shows at the Ellipse Art Center, and at Green Springs Garden. During the last few months of his life, Jack put his photography on hold as he helped his wife through her breast cancer treatments.
Jack was deeply devoted to his family. For that devotion and his ongoing service to his country and community, his wife and children will always be grateful.
Besides his wife, he leaves his son, Stephen W. Reed, of Tampa FL, and his step-daughter and her husband, Laura L. and Alan J. Lauder of Arlington VA. His internment, with full military honors, will take place on January 14, 2010 at Arlington National Cemetery.
Posted belatedly at the request of Barbara Clemens. Converted from original Microsoft Office document format received 2009-11-30 from Barbara Clemens.
