Obituary of David Pope Fox

David Pope Fox, of Great Falls, Virginia, passed away on September 15, 2016 at the age of 74, two weeks after sustaining a traumatic brain injury in an accident. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts on July 21, 1942, the first child of M. Bernard and Lucy Pope Fox, a young couple from suburban Brookline. Bernard and Lucy had been married the previous October, only seven weeks before Pearl Harbor, and like many wartime children, David saw little of his father until the 27 year-old Navy lieutenant returned to the Charlestown Navy Yard from his Mediterranean service in 1944. Like many young boys in the post-war years, David showed keen interest in the military, rarely missing an episode of the televised “Victory at Sea” and becoming an accomplished builder of model warplanes. His patient craftsmanship led him later to create intricate clipper ships and scrimshaw carvings. He was proud to be descended from his great-grandfather Albert Augustus Pope, a Civil War colonel and the manufacturer of the Columbia Bicycle in the late nineteenth century, and of the Pope Hartford line of automobiles in the early twentieth. In 1953, when he was eleven, David moved with his family to Los Angeles, where he soon showed off his Yoyo skills in local competitions, winning blue ribbons for his renditions of “rock the baby ” and “around the world.” Later, his tennis prowess landed him on the University High School Varsity team. In 1960, he drove his immaculate and high-powered 1957 Ford to Berkeley, where he enrolled at the University of California. As a member of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity “laundro-naut” team, he achieved his 15 minutes of fame by stepping into an industrial clothes dryer and spinning around inside for an hour. The feat was written up, with photographs, in Life Magazine, and upon reading the story, a German TV producer flew him to Berlin so he could recreate the stunt before a live audience. During the variety program, the emcee would periodically walk over to the dryer, point his microphone at the door, and ask David how he was doing. “I’m just fine,” David said. After graduating from UC Berkeley, David stepped into the computer age by accepting a marketing position at IBM, soon specializing in selling the latest systems to government entities. He was instrumental in the late 1960s in bringing advanced computers into the Los Angeles Police Department. During his 35-year IBM career David held many satisfying positions, but his favorite stint, as Pacific Area Marketing Manager, landed him in Honolulu from 1978 to 1982. It was at IBM in 1969 that David met Marjorie Laws Seimears. They were married in 1973, and in 1982 their son Douglas joined the family. After David retired from IBM in 2001, his skills in forensic Information Technology design brought him consulting assignments in several cities in the US and abroad, jobs he valued for the interest of the work and for the new friends he discovered. He made 40 trips to Bulgaria alone between 2002 and 2009. In 2010, David and Marjorie encountered two other couples traveling with them on the historic Royal Canadian Pacific Railway, and the bond they formed led to further journeys together: Barge trips on canals in France, an Amazon River excursion in Peru, and a tour of single-malt Scotch distilleries in Scotland. On their final trip together, in April of this year, they enjoyed a guided tour of Cuba. Closer to home, David served for many years as President of the Men’s Auxiliary, VFW McLean Post. He was a “regular’s regular” at The Old Brogue Irish Pub in Great Falls. David is survived by Marjorie, his wife of 42 years, their son Douglas, granddaughter Brooke, mother Lucy, brother Richard, niece Rachel and nephew Christopher. A memorial service to celebrate David’s life will be held at 2:00 pm on Saturday, October 8th at the Immanuel Presbyterian Church, 1125 Savile Lane, McLean, VA. Donations in his memory may be made to the Inova Hospital Foundation.