Maj. Gen. (USA, Ret.) Robert J. Dacey – Bethesda, MD
Maj. Gen. (USA, Ret.) Robert J. Dacey (1935-2011) of Bethesda, MD, was a retired military officer and professional engineer.
General and Mrs. Dacey had lived in the Washington, DC area off and on for many years since 1959 due to military assignments, but settled in the area permanently in 1985.
General Dacey was born in Watertown, NY on May 15, 1935, the son of Robert and Frances Dacey. He was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the US Army in January 1959.
He received a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Norwich University in 1958, a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from the University of Missouri at Rolla in 1964, and an MBA in Procurement from the George Washington University in 1972; he was a graduate of the US Army Command and General Staff College, Army War College and numerous other professional military education programs.
He served with the 553rd Engineer Battalion in Orleans, France, the US Army Support Command Korea, the 18th Engineer Brigade in the Republic of Vietnam, on the US Army Europe and US Army Forces Command general staffs, was the District Engineer for the US Army Corps of Engineers in St. Louis and Commander of the Corps’ Southwest Division in Dallas, and finished his Army career as the Assistant Chief of the US Army Corps of Engineers.
From October 1965 to July 1967, then Captain Dacey served as the Assistant to the Shelbyville Dam and Reservoir Project Engineer, and later became the Resident Engineer.
His military awards include the Army Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Bronze Star, Air Medal, Defense and Army Meritorious Service Medals, Air Medal, numerous Vietnam campaign and gallantry awards, and the Army Staff Identification Badge, among many others. He was a recipient of the sliver deFleury Medal from the US Army Engineer Regimental Association.
Upon his 1988 retirement from the US Army, he served as the Senior Vice President for Design in the Architecture and Construction Division at the Marriott Corporation, and moved to Science Applications International Corporation in 1991, retiring in 2006 as a vice president, Corporate Engineer, and chairman of the Corporate Risk Committee.
He was for many years a member of Rotary, served in the Potomac area with the Kiwanis, and served the Avenel Homeowners Association as a board member, treasurer and president, and as compliance officer of the homeowners association at Church Point in Oak Grove, VA. He was a lifelong devoted reader of Louis L’amour, yet sadly never had the chance to live that kind of wild, free Western life.
He died at Walter Reed Army Medical Center on January 5, 2011, from multisystem organ failure.
He is survived by his wife of 48 years, Rosalyn Rich of Springfield, Missouri, son MAJ (USA, Ret.) John Dacey and Mrs. Yvonne Dacey of Mount Vernon, VA with grandchildren Rachel and Max, and daughter Martha Dacey Emory and husband Mr. Jeff Emory of Arlington, VA and step-grandchildren Kristen, Lauren and Jennifer. Surviving siblings are Mrs. Eleanor Percy of Watertown, NY, Mrs. Mary Malara of Siesta Key, FL and COL (USA, Ret.) Richard Dacey of Mason Neck, VA.