Frank A. de la Fe ’63 died on September 18, 2018, in Reston, Virginia.

(The following appeared online at adamsgreen.com in September 2018:)

Frank de la Fe, husband, father, grandfather, brother, and friend passed away September 18, 2018. Frank is survived by his daughters Catherine and Mary, son-in-law Dionicio, and grandchildren Megan, Caitlin, and Juan.

Born in Havana, Cuba, Frank grew up in Miami, Florida and became a citizen of the US in 1958. After graduating from Bowdoin, Frank began what would be a lifelong career with the federal government at Cape Canaveral working for NASA. After moving to DC to enter a federal management training program, he met and married Sarah Anne Prendergast in 1964.

The de la Fe family began their life in Reston, Virginia, in 1971 where they found an extended family in Regency Square Cluster —otherwise known as the TEDS—and St. Thomas a Becket Church. In his forty-seven years in Reston, Frank served on committees and boards for nearly every organization in Reston— from the Regency Square Cluster board and The Reston Association (then RHOA) board to Reston Soccer to Reston Interfaith (now Cornerstones). He, along with Sarah Anne, was a volunteer at St. Thomas and the Reston Catholic Community. In addition to his service in Reston, Frank also served as chairman of the Fairfax County Park Authority and in 2017, he retired from the Fairfax County Planning Commission.

Catherine and I are forever grateful that our parents chose to not only settle in Reston, but to fully embrace the vision for what the community could be—the hard work it would take to realize that vision. We learned the importance of service and a strong community. And, most importantly, we learned about family. Family you are born to and family you choose. The connections and friendships made in regency square, Reston soccer, swim team, and St. Thomas are relationships and friendships that continue to this day.