Allan L Willey

Allan L. Willey passed away Thursday, July 21 at Virginia Hospital Center from pneumonia, following months of illness due to complications related to intestinal surgery. He was born on September 17, 1940 in Portsmouth, Virginia, the son of Elliott and Audrey Willey, both of whom preceded him in death. Allan graduated from William and Mary with a degree in philosophy and later would comment that he thought his college-level philosophy courses were “easy.” He also earned a Master's in Business before going on to spend decades working in the field of information technology. He began as a freelance software designer and was later scouted to work as the manager of a software engineering laboratory at Motorola, first in Phoenix and then in Chicago. He retired in 2006 to his home state, and after enjoying life for a decade in colonial Williamsburg, he moved to Arlington to be closer to his family. A true renaissance man, Allan's passions and talents spanned too many areas to enumerate, from learning to play the piano as an adult to studying quantum mechanics simply for intellectual pleasure. He had a remarkable love for travel, both domestic and abroad, and those who knew him had trouble mentioning a city or country that he had not yet visited. When not traveling or studying, Allan enjoyed working as a hospice volunteer, participating in local book discussion clubs and walking groups, and going out to meals with his children and grandchildren. Allan is survived by his partner Jane Comings, his daughter Rebecca and husband Ed of Falls Church, VA, and son Benjamin and wife Kiyomi of Jacksonville, FL with their four children. He is

also survived by his sister Nancy of Rockville, MD.