Robert Davis Terry – Major General, United States Army

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Sunday, July 23, 2006Robert D. Terry, 85, a retired Army Major General who later became a defense contracting executive, died July 13, 2006, of cancer at West Falls Center at Falcons Landing, an Air Force retirement community in the Potomac Falls section of Sterling, Virginia. He had lived in McLean from 1969 until 1997.

General Terry was born in Indianapolis and graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1942. He received a master’s degree in communications engineering from the University of Illinois in 1948.

During World War II, he was a signal officer with the Army’s 6th and 13th armored divisions and served in the United States, Europe and the Philippines. He was later a communications officer during U.S. operations in the Dominican Republic in the 1960s.

In 1966, General Terry was named commander of the 1st Signal Brigade while also serving as assistant chief of staff for Army communications and electronics in Vietnam. As commanding officer of the 1st Signal Brigade, he supervised a force of 17,000 and planned and built communications facilities across Vietnam. For those efforts, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal.

General Terry’s other deployments included commanding a military communications system in Alaska and serving on the faculty at West Point. He was also a member of weapons development and research teams and served as assistant chief of staff for communications and electronics with the Army’s Pacific forces. He was a graduate of the Army Command and General Staff College and the Naval War College.

He retired in 1975 as vice director of the Defense Communications Agency (now the Defense Information Systems Agency). His decorations included a second award of the Distinguished Service Medal, two awards of the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star and the Air Medal.

After his Army career, General Terry joined Rockwell International Corp. as director of international and government planning. He was later named a vice president before his retirement from the private sector in 1985.

His interests included horseback riding, tennis, golf, photography, investing, travel and Civil War history. He enjoyed attending class reunions at West Point and organized his class’s 60th reunion in 2002.

Survivors include his wife of 63 years, Magnolia “Nomie” Terry of Sterling; three daughters, Beth Lee Terry of New Orleans, Kim Suzanne Terry of Soddy-Daisy, Tennessee, and Sandra DeHart Terry of Rapid City, South Dakota.

TERRY, ROBERT D., Maj. Gen., USA (Ret.) Age 85 on Thursday, July 13, 2006 at the West Falls Center at Falcons Landing; beloved husband of 63 years to Magnolia G. (Nomie) Terry; loving and devoted father of Beth L., Kim S., and Sandra D. Terry; father-in-law of Bill Phillips

Funeral services will be held at Fort Myer Old Post Chapel, Wednesday, September 13 at 1 p.m. Interment Arlington National Cemetery with Full Military Honors. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the West Point Fund, U.S.M.A., 698 Mills Rd., West Point, New York 10996 or to Capital Hospice, 6565 Arlington Blvd., Suite 501, Falls Church, Virginia 22042.

Magnolia “Nomie” G. Terry, 87, a retired artist, died of gastrointestinal bleeding May 23, 2008, at the Johnson Center at Falcons Landing in Potomac Falls, Virginia.

Mrs. Terry, who painted daily life in the modern impressionist style, showed her work throughout the area and helped transform the Torpedo Factory in Alexandria from an abandoned building into a thriving art center. In addition to painting in oils and acrylics, Mrs. Terry explored printmaking through silkscreens, linoleums and woodcuts.

She was born in Danville, Virginia, and grew up in Indiana. She graduated from Butler University, where she was one of the first female drum majors in the United States. She taught high school English in Indiana during World War II.

She married a military officer and traveled with him to posts around the world. She and her husband lived in McLean from 1969 to 1997, when they moved into the Air Force Retired Officers Community at Falcons Landing.

Among the artists with whom she studied were Herb Abrams, A.B. Jackson and Joy Luke. She was a member of the McLean Art Club, the Potomac Art League, the Vienna Arts Society, the Arts Council of Fairfax County, the Northern Virginia Fine Arts Association and the Art League of Alexandria.

She exhibited her work at shows and galleries and was a regular for many years at the Virginia Beach Boardwalk Art Show and the Waterford Foundation Art Mart.

After moving to Falcons Landing in 1997, Mrs. Terry had a one-artist show in the community center there and then gradually retired from painting. She volunteered at the community center library and at the reception desk at the Johnson Center. She took up tai chi and learned to dance the tango. She also enjoyed travel throughout the United States.

Her husband, retired Army Major General Robert D. Terry, died in 2006.

Survivors include three daughters, Beth Lee Terry of New Orleans, Kim Suzanne Terry of Soddy-Daisy, Tenn., and Sandra DeHart Terry of Potomac Falls.

TERRY, ROBERT DAVIS

  • MG   US ARMY
  • WORLD WAR II, VIETNAM
  • DATE OF BIRTH: 09/04/1920
  • DATE OF DEATH: 07/13/2006
  • BURIED AT: SECTION 66  SITE 115
  • ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY

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