Ike Fremont Smith

Ike Fremont Smith, 99, of Alexandria, VA, died Tuesday, December 15, 2020 at Capital Care Hospice, Arlington, VA. Ike was born August 6, 1921 in Farmhaven, MS, and was the oldest of five boys.  He was a resident of Alexandria, VA. for 60 years.

He served in the US Navy from 1942 until 1945 and in World War II, Patrol Service Unit one-two, where he was an Aviation Metalsmith, staged at Pearl Harbor and seeing combat in  Espiritu Santo, Guadalcanal and the Admiralty Islands, respectively. During the Korean War he was called back to active duty for the US Navy but never deployed overseas during this conflict.

After the war he married his beloved wife of 61 years, Virginia Blanchard Smith until her death at 82 years old on December 31, 2006, fathered four children and adopted two more and finished his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Millsaps College and also attended graduate school at the University of Michigan, with a major in Public Administration. 

From 1953-1961 he worked for the US Navy as a civilian in various capacities in the Publications and Printing Branch and served as Management Analyst working across the United States in New Orleans, LA, Bremerton, WA, Agana, Guam, and Edwards, CA before moving to Washington, DC where he spent 20+ years working at the Pentagon for Department of the Air Force and US Department of Energy retiring in 1983, as a Program Analyst for the Assistant Secretary for Conservation and Renewable Energy.  His career spanned eight consecutive presidential administrations, an accomplishment he was proud of.

He volunteered for the Lee Mount Vernon Soccer Club from 1974 until 1990 and felt strongly about the need for youth soccer to have a presence in the community. Since his retirement, he spent countless hours pursuing his passion for genealogy on a quest to learn his family history. He also spent much of his free time on hobbies that included fishing, gardening, bowling in multiple bowling leagues through the years (most recently the Owls Club) as well as playing bingo at the local Franconia and Greater Springfield Volunteer firehouses and supporting the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 7327 organization. 

Graveside services are scheduled to take place 11 a.m. January 5, 2021 in Lottville Cemetery in Farmhaven, MS. Arrangements coordinated through Breeland Funeral Home.

In lieu of flowers, we ask that donations be made in memoriam to either Capital Caring Hospice or his alma mater Millsaps College.

He leaves three sons, Joseph Perry Smith (Dorthea) of Raleigh, N.C., Christopher William Smith (Frances) of Wellington, CO, Daniel Fremont Smith (Joey) of Opp, AL and two daughters Barbara Lynn Smith of Manhattan, KS, Virginia Ann Fletcher (Gregory) of Alexandria, VA, one brother Edgar Dye Smith (Molly) of Brentwood, TN. 10 grandchildren, 19 great-grandchildren and 18 great-great grandchildren and a host of other extended family.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Arthur Perry Smith and Mary Matilda Spivey Smith, wife, Virginia Blanchard Smith, daughter, Kathryn Virginia Dichristafaro, grandsons, Douglas Randolph Smith and Aaron Michael Smith and three brothers, Arthur Perry Smith, Jr., Percy Edgar Smith and Lewis Spivey Smith.

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