Francis Drake Foley – Rear Admiral, United States Navy

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From a contemporary press report:

Francis Drake Foley, 89, a retired Navy rear admiral who served aboard aircraft carriers in the Pacific during World War II and later commanded Task Force 77 in the Pacific, died of heart ailments November 8, 1999 at Anne Arundel General Hospital in Annapolis, Maryland.

Admiral Foley, a naval aviator, was the air operations officer aboard the carrier Hornet when it was sunk in the Battle of Santa Cruz in the Solomons in October 1942. Later in the war, he held staff positions on other carriers.

In the postwar years, Admiral Foley held assignments in Washington and elsewhere in the United States. He graduated from the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island. In the mid-1950s, he commanded a seaplane tender and then the carrier Shangri-La in the Pacific. He later served on the staff of the commander in chief in the Pacific in Pearl Harbor.

Other assignments were on the staff of the Chief of naval operations and at NATO headquarters in Europe.

In 1960 and 1961, Admiral Foley commanded Task Force 77, the attack arm of the Pacific Fleet.

In subsequent assignments, he commanded the 3rd Naval District in New York and served as senior member of the U.N. Command Military Armistice Commission in Seoul. He retired in 1972.

Admiral Foley was born into a Navy family in Dorchester, Massachusetts. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis in 1932, and he returned to Annapolis when he retired.

His military decorations included the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star with Combat “V” and the Joint Services Commendation Medal.

He was a member of the U.S. Naval Academy Alumni Association, the Annapolis Yacht Club, the New York Yacht Club, the Army-Navy Club and the Army Navy Country Club.

His first wife, Martha McCullough Foley, died in 1965. His second wife, the former Clair O’Neill Vogel, died in 1984.

Survivors include a daughter from his first marriage, Josephine Drake Foley of Warrenton; four stepchildren, retired Navy Capt. Raymond W. Vogel of New London, Conn., retired Navy Cmdr. Timothy J. Vogel and Jamie H. Fallon, both of Annapolis, and retired Marine Corps Col. Frederick J. Vogel of Herndon; 12 grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren.

FOLEY, FRANCIS DRAKE, RADM, USN (Ret.)
USNA Class of 1932

Of Annapolis, MD, on Monday, November 8, 1999, at Anne Arundel Medical Center. Husband of the late Martha Foley and the late Claire O’Neil Vogel Foley; father of Josephine Drake Foley of Warrenton, VA; step-father of Capt. Raymond W. Vogel, USN (Ret.) of New London, CT, CDR Timothy J. Vogel, USN (Ret.) of Annapolis, MD, Col. Fredrick J. Vogel, USMC (Ret.) of Vienna, Austria and Jamie H. Fallon of Annapolis, MD. Also survived by 12 step-grandchildren, seven step-great-grandchildren, one niece and two nephews. Mass of Christian Burial will be offered on Friday, November 12, 11 a.m. at St. Mary’s Cathloic Church, 109 Duke of Gloucester St., Annapolis, MD 21401. Interment with Full Military Honors will be held Friday, November, 26, 1 p.m. at Arlington National Cemetery (friends to assemble at Admininstrative Building). In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to St. Mary’s Catholic Church Building Fund.

Foley, Francis D

  • b. 07/04/1910, d. 11/08/1999,
  • US Navy, RADM,
  • Res:Warrenton, VA,
  • Section 7, Grave 10361-D,
  • buried 11/26/1999

Foley, Martha Mccullough

  • b. 09/30/1910, d. 11/24/1965,
  • US Army, TEC5,
  • Res: Mc Lean, VA,
  • Section 7, Grave 10361-D, buried 11/29/1965

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