| Fletcher Leroy Houck Jr. |
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Fletcher LeRoy Houck Jr., "Roy", 85, a resident of
Davidsonville since 1966, died of cancer January 6 at
Ginger Cove in Annapolis.
He was born Feb. 8, 1925, in Washington, D.C., to
Helen Regina (Garner) and Fletcher LeRoy Houck. Roy
was a fourth-generation Washingtonian, where his first job
as a boy was a paper route. As a teenager, he visited the
White House daily for press releases for a news service. He graduated from
McKinley High School in 1943. He served during World War II in the U.S.
Army Air Corps from 1944 to 1945. As a crewmember on B17s, he flew 22
combat missions from England over Germany, receiving the Air Medal with three
Oak Leaf Clusters.
Roy graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of
Maryland's College of Business and Public Administration in 1950. He earned a
Bachelor of Laws degree from Eastern College in 1965. That same year, Roy was
admitted to the Maryland State Bar Association and began practicing law. He also
received a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Baltimore.
In 1966, he and his family moved to Harbor Hills in Davidsonville, building a
house on the South River. In the 1960s, he managed a real estate settlement
office in Suitland for the firm of Conroy and Williams. In the 1970s, he founded
the law firm of Houck and McCarron in Prince George's County, where he
practiced real estate law over the next three decades. Roy also was on the Board
of Directors of Suburban Trust Company, First Fidelity Bank and Riggs National
Bank of Maryland. From 1988 to1993, he served as chairman of the board for
Riggs National Bank of Maryland.
Roy enjoyed playing golf and going to Redskins games with friends, business
associates and his sons. Throughout his entire life and retirement, he always loved
surf cast fishing in Ocean City, gardening and working in his yard, and also
reading about American history.
He was preceded in death by his first wife of 40 years, Sylvia Ruth Simmons
Houck, an active member in Historic Annapolis and the Maryland Lawyers Wives
Association, who died in 1989; and daughter, Catherine Fran Houck, who died in
1995.
He is survived by his wife and former high school girlfriend, Jean Bowen
Houck, formerly of Rockville, whom he married in 1995; sister, Nancy Stitley
Cox and husband Tom; three children from his first marriage, John Houck and
wife Oza Dee, Rob Roy Houck and wife Barbara, and Jeanne Houck and
husband William Harvey; three stepchildren, Deborah Leser, Bonnie Bowen and
Steve Bowen and their families; seven grandchildren, James Houck, Rob Roy
Houck Jr., Henry Houck, Fletcher Houck, Sylviann Houck, Kirsten Harvey and
Liam Harvey; and three great-grandchildren, Ryder, Savannah and Avery.
A memorial service will be held from 1 to 3 p.m. on Sunday, January 23 at
the Harbor Hills Yacht Club, 3437 Constellation Drive, Davidsonville. In lieu of
flowers, the family would appreciate donations to Hospice of the Chesapeake,
445 Defense Highway, Annapolis, MD 21401.
Published in The Capital on January 16, 2011
