Obituary of Alan John Jeffries

Alan John Jeffries, 57, passed away on May 12, 2017 in Reston, Virginia with this family by his side. Alan was born on March 10, 1960 in Alexandria, Virginia to John and Corinne Jeffries.

Alan grew up in Great Falls and McLean, Virginia. As a child he enjoyed boating on the Chesapeake Bay with his family, gathering with his mother’s side of the family (the Flegers), visiting his father’s family in West Virginia, and attending summer camp in PA. He graduated from Langley High School in McLean, Virginia in 1978.

After high school he briefly attended VPI and NOVA before attending George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia where in 1985 he received a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology. In 1985, Alan began work for various companies in the satellite earth station business. With his degree, he had a steeper learning curve in engineering but Alan  was mentored by Mike Harkins at Applied Technology Associates, where he developed his Systems Engineering expertise. His career led from NRL working on battle simulation systems to become the program manager and chief architect of the satellite control center for FUSE at Johns Hopkins University. He took his family to see the launch of the FUSE satellite in the summer of 1999, which was an amazing experience.

He continued to work in high pressure projects requiring his unique qualities of self deprecating humor and absolute focus on doing the job right. He developed close working relationship with colleagues in the European Space Agency and was involved in standards committees on space based communications standards.

In 2003 Alan started a company with his wife primarily to give himself a platform to consult for NASA. The Company is still going strong with 14 employees, including his children Danielle and Sean.

Alan married Leslie in 1985 in Oakton, Virginia. They met in 1980 at Louie’s Rock City and were happily married for 31 years. They had 4 children Danielle, Sean, Jacquelyn and Amber. Alan enjoyed raising his children in the Kingstream neighborhood. He supported the neighborhood Kahuna swim team for over 20 years as a stroke and turn judge and referee. He loved to ride his motorcycle with his wife, Leslie, take long bicycle rides on the W&OD trail, and swim laps at the neighborhood pool and the local Y.

Alan was an amazing guitarist, he played by ear and enjoyed many genres of music. He played in a few bands throughout the years but would often unwind by just jamming to songs on his iPod and rocking the house.

Alan was a huge fan of Star Wars (he had perfect Yoda impression), Star Trek and most action films. His favorite character from childhood was Iron Man. Alan read mostly science fiction but more recently was reading local history books to add depth to his genealogy research. Alan loved to joke around, often making himself the butt of the joke. Alan was the author of 2 blogs: one blog covered current events which he wrote under a pen name and the other was a blog to share his genealogy research with family and friends.

Alan was preceded in death by his father, John Jeffries Jr.

Alan is survived by his wife Leslie of Herndon, Virginia; his daughter Danielle (and Dustin) Hedgepeth of Glen Burnie, Maryland; his son Sean Jeffries of Herndon, Virginia; his daughter Jackie Jeffries of Herndon, Virginia; his daughter Amber Jeffries of Herndon, Virginia; his sister Melinda (and Michael) Lasater of Poway, California; his brother Robert (and Carol) Jeffries of Reston, Virginia; his grandchildren Cameron and JP Hedgepeth; and his nieces and other relatives.

A memorial service will be held at the Northern Virginia Baha’i Center, 21415 Cardinal Glen Circle, Sterling, Virginia 20164 at 11:00am on Thursday, May 18, 2017. Parking is limited so guests are encouraged to carpool if possilbe.

Due to severe allergies, please do not send flowers.  Memorial donations are suggested to American Cancer Society or The Ronald McDonald House in Alan's name.

Please note: There is no smoking allowed on the Northern Virginia Baha'i Center property.

Select the Service Information tab on the left side of this page for map and directions.