Colonel James Archie Fava

Colonel James Archie Fava, age 101, husband of Joyce P. Fava died on May 21, 2020. He was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Frank J. Fava of Shreveport, Louisiana. Colonel Fava, who has lived in Severna Park, Md. since 1956, was born in El Dorado, Arkansas. He graduated from Louisiana State University, studied meteorology at New York University, and earned a Masters Degree in Geophysics at St. Louis University. He began his military career as a Weather Officer in the Army Air Corps. He was stationed at Maxwell Field in Alabama on December 7, 1941. During World War II, he served as a Weather Officer and spent 3 ½ years in Africa and the Middle East. He was the Station Weather Officer at Cairo, Egypt during the battles at El Alamein. He was with the 98th B-24 Bomb Group at the time of its famous low level attack from Africa on the Ploesti oil fields in Romania. Following World War II he was with the U.S. Weather Bureau until he received a regular Army commission in 1947. Col. Fava’s military decorations included two Air Force Commendations Medals and the European-African-Middle Easter Campaign Medal with four battle clusters. After graduating from St. Louis University in 1952, he became a Research and Development Officer with the Air Force in Cambridge Research Center in Boston, MA. While there his participation in the atomic weapon effects program took him to Brazil, Nevada and the Pacific Proving Grounds. In 1956 he was assigned to the Air Research and Development Command in Baltimore, MD. He held a number of research and development positions with AFSC and Office of Aerospace Research ending as the Director, Office of Scientific and Technical Information, OAR in Washington, DC. In April 1996, he was assigned as an Air Force Officer as Manager, National Space Science Data Center, GSFC, Greenbelt, MD. Following his retirement from the Air Force in 1967, he became Deputy Director of the NSSDC. He retired from GSSFC in 1980. Col. Fava was an active member of Woods Memorial Presbyterian Church in Severna Park since 1956. He served as a Trustee on two different occasions and assisted his wife in teaching Sunday school for a number of years. He was a participant in the Hilltoppers and Rehabs groups and delivered Meals on Wheels for many years. His outside activities included the Wally Byam Caravan Club, International, Boy Scouts and the Green Hornet Athletic Association. From 1973 he and his wife traveled the world as well as visiting every state in the Union as well as Canada and Mexico. Survivors include his wife of 74 years Joyce P. Fava of Severna Park, three sons, Dr.James a Fava, Jr. of Dominical, Costa Rica, Donald C. Fava of Timonium, MD and Gary L. Fava of Salem, Or., and seven grandchildren, ten great grandchildren and four great-great grandchildren. In lieu of flowers, the family has requested that contributions be made to the Memorial Fund, Woods Memorial Presbyterian Church, 611 Baltimore-Annapolis Boulevard, Severna Park, MD 21146