Fred George Benkley Jr. passed away peacefully in his sleep on July 19, 2022, at the age of 98.  A resident of Lexington, MA for 64 years, Fred spent the final months of his life residing at Brightview Country Club Heights Assisted Living in Woburn, MA.  A funeral service will be held on Tuesday, August 2, 2022, at 11:00 a.m. at the Douglass Funeral Home, 51 Worthen Road, Lexington, MA. Visitation immediately prior to the service from 10:15am to 11:00am.

Fred was born on May 25, 1924, in Penelope, Texas.  The son and namesake of a farmer and Methodist minister, Fred attended Southern Methodist University, from which he earned a degree in Electrical Engineering in 1944.  Upon graduation, Fred joined the U.S. Navy as a commissioned officer, and after attending Naval Radar School in Cambridge, MA, he served as a radar engineer on the U.S.S. Little Rock, a Cleveland-class light cruiser.

Following his discharge from the navy in 1946, Fred returned to Massachusetts and enrolled in Harvard University, taking advantage of the G.I. Bill's education benefits.  He graduated from Harvard with a master's degree in Electrical Engineering in 1947.

Over the course of his working career, Fred specialized in radar technology.  After working for many years at the Watertown, MA facilities of Melpar Inc, an American government contractor, Fred joined The Mitre Corporation in Bedford, MA in April 1960, where he spent the remaining 29 years of his career developing and installing radar systems, including respective 2.5-year and six-month overseas assignments at U.S. military bases in Orford Ness, England and Madrid, Spain.  He also made contributions to the U.S. Air Force's AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System) program.

Tenacious and determined, Fred tackled any technical problem that he faced head on using, as he liked to say, " the muscle between my ears ".

On June 22, 1947, Fred married Marie Jacquelin Lassen, whom he had met in Cambridge while attending Naval Radar School.  The couple settled in Arlington, MA and had three sons, before relocating to Lexington, MA in 1957.  After the death of Marie in August 1957 at the age of 31, with the blessing of his eldest sons, on February 14, 1959, Fred married Alice McDonough, a Melpar colleague.  The couple quickly welcomed three more boys into the family, prompting expansion of the Lexington home to accommodate his growing brood.  With efforts to add a daughter to the household having proven to be futile, Fred and Alice agreed that six boys were enough and declared that the family was complete.

Through it all, Fred cherished his relationship with God above all else.  He was a devout Christian, with a strong evangelical passion.  Upon retiring from Mitre, Fred spent five consecutive summers in China, teaching English and sharing his faith with his students.  Fred attended Trinity Covenant Church and Grace Chapel in Lexington, leading Bible studies and performing other ministry services in both churches over the course of his adult life.

Fred was a world traveler and pioneer in the realm of ham radio.  He could often be heard hailing " CQDX, this is W1OHJ, calling CQDX ", as he sought to connect with other ham radio enthusiasts around the globe.  Fred's massive antenna installation on Whipple Hill allowed him to reach the farthest corners of the earth.

Proficient in Spanish, Fred was also active in the Sister City Committee, which aligned Lexington, MA with Delores Hidalgo, Mexico, the birthplace of Mexican independence.  The committee fostered cultural relations with Delores Hidalgo and oversaw La Tienda (a boutique offering a wide range of authentic Mexican merchandise), which operated in Lexington center in the 1970s.

Fred was preceded in death by his first wife, Marie Jacquelin Benkley (Lassen); his father, the Reverend Fred George Benkley; his mother, Carolena Emma Benkley (Havemann); and his brother, Robert C. Benkley.  He is survived by his beloved wife of 63 years, Alice; his six devoted sons: Bruce A. Benkley and spouse Wendy (Larson) of Iron River, MI; Carl W. Benkley and spouse Nina (Hopkins) of Carlisle, MA; Fred G. Benkley III and spouse Heather (Halpin) of Middleton, MA; Kurt B. Benkley and spouse Laurie (Drews) of Port Washington, WI; Mark V. Benkley and spouse Joanne (McMullin) of Easthampton, MA; and Paul D. Benkley and spouse Nathalie (Maréchal) of Geneva, Switzerland; thirteen grandchildren, Christina (Benkley) James and spouse Trevor, David Benkley and spouse Lacy (Nelson), Marie, Dylan, Brianna, Bianca, Luke, Elise, John, Norah, Tyler, Emily, and Melissa; and four great grandchildren, Noah, Grace, Eden, and Ezra.

We, his sons, honor our father's memory and thank him for instilling in us his principles of honesty and integrity.  It was once said of Fred that, " A straight line isn't straight enough for him. "  Rest in peace, Dad.  W1OHJ SK.