COL GEORGE A. SEAMANDS To TAPS

Colonel (Ret.) George A. Seamands, 87, passed away on November 22, 2018 at the Fort Belvoir Community Hospital. He was a long time resident of Springfield, VA where he was a member of the Church of the Nativity in Burke. He and his wife moved in the Fairfax Retirement Community at Fort Belvoir in 2014.

George was born April 17, 1931 in El Reno, Oklahoma, the son of Charles H. and Allie Price Seamands. He attended Oklahoma State University and was a member of Delta Sigma Pi. Upon graduating as a distinguished military ROTC graduate in 1952, he entered the Army at Ft. Sill, Oklahoma. 

During the Korean War he served as a Battery Commander with the 1st Field Artillery Battalion of I Corps and later with the 25th Infantry Division; in Vietnam, he was with the 9th Infantry Division. His other career assignments included Headquarters US Army Europe in Heidelberg Germany; Headquarters Continental Army Command at Fort Monroe, VA; Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe Belgium, and the US Army Finance School and Finance Center at Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana.

After a branch transfer from Field Artillery, he served in the Finance Corps for 28 years before retiring in 1982 from the Office of the DA Comptroller at the Pentagon with a total of 30 years of service. Col. Seamands attended the Command and General Staff College and earned an MBA from American University as well as an Associate degree from Northern Virginia Community College.

His decorations include the Legion of Merit with two Oak Leaf Clusters, the Bronze Star with one Oak Leaf Cluster, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Army Commendation Medal with one Oak Leaf Cluster, National Defense Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster as well as seven other US and Foreign military service medals. In 1965, he was selected as one of the “Outstanding Young Men in America.”

After retirement from the military, he was a Real Estate agent with Town and Country Properties in Springfield for ten years. He volunteered for several community and church organizations; including 7 ½ years as an officer and board member of the Army Retired Residence Foundation (The Fairfax,) the Boy Scouts, and serving as an Eucharistic Minister and Lector in Belgium and the US. He was a member of the John Carroll Society, the SHAPE Officers Association, and was a 4th degree member of the Knights of Columbus.

He is survived by his wife of 62 years Loretta (Lorie) Collins Seamands, one daughter Catherine Watson of Springfield, VA, three sons; Lieutenant General Thomas (Melissa) of Fort Myer, VA, Maj. (Ret.) Gregory (Tammy) of Enterprise, AL, and Christopher (Nicole) of Alexandria, VA, and eight grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents, sister Ruth, and brother Charles.

A visitation will be held December 7th from 3:00-6:00 p.m. at the Fairfax Memorial Funeral Home 9902 Braddock Road, Fairfax, VA. Interment with full military honors will take place at Arlington National Cemetery at a later date. Memorial donations may be made to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital (www.stjude.org) or the Arthritis Foundation (www.arthritis.org.)