William Stamps Howard III

Captain William Stamps Howard III, USN (Ret), 81, passed away peacefully July 7, 2017, after a lengthy Battle with Lewy Body Dementia. Stamps and his wife of 54 years, Patricia, moved to Newport News, Va. in 2014 after living in Buford, Ga. for 11 years. Prior to that, they lived in Fairfax, Va. for over 30 years.
Stamps was born April 22, 1936 in San Diego, Ca. and spent most of his childhood in the small town of Tarboro, NC. He attended Woodberry Forest Prep School, and then received a presidential appointment to the US Naval Academy, where he was a varsity tennis player. After graduating in 1958, Stamps served 30 years in the US Navy.
In June 1963, Stamps took his new bride to Rome, Italy where he worked as Assistant Naval Attache’ at the US Embassy. He later served in the Vietnam War from March 10, 1969 to March 9, 1970 as an intelligence specialist, completed a 3-year tour in San Diego on the USS Chicago and then returned to Washington DC to complete his honored naval career at the Pentagon. He earned his Masters degree from George Washington University in 1973. In 1984, Stamps retired from the military to civilian life with a 15-year employment at BDM International as Logistics Director.
Stamps is survived by his wife, Patricia Howard; children: Stamps Howard IV (Susan), Carolyn McCombs (Jim), Rick Howard (Beth) and Marypat Marcoccio (Frank); grandchildren, Seamus, Will, Alicia, Scott, Caroline, Allie, Trish, Marypat, Dominick, Erick and Ben.
Stamps was a loving husband and father to his family. He passed on his love of tennis, athletics, and the outdoors to his family. Extremely involved in soccer as coach and fan, Stamps coached teams of both his daughter and his wife and watched numerous hours of games. He was a Boy Scout leader and very active with the extracurricular activities of his children. He wrote poetry for family members and special events, and devoted many hours of genealogy due to his love of family ancestry.  In retirement, Stamps enjoyed leisure time reading, boating and volunteering.
The family will receive friends from 7-9 pm July 28, 2017 at Altmeyer Funeral Home, Denbigh Chapel. A funeral mass will be held for Stamps 11 am July 29, 2017 at St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church with interment in Arlington National Cemetery at a later date.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Naval Intelligence Professionals, PO Box 11579, Burke, VA 22009-1579
EXTENDED NAVAL CAREER INFORMATION
Stamps served in engineering on USS Essex (CSV-9) and the commissioning crew of USS Topeka (CLG-8). In 1961, he attended the Naval Intelligence School, learning Italian at Army Language Institute. In June 1963, the Howards moved to Rome, Italy, where Stamps was Assistant Naval Attache’, US Embassy.
After serving as Chief Engineer on USS Dewey (DLG-14), he transitioned to the Naval Intelligence community (1630, intelligence and sub-specialist) – serving in Naval Scientific and Technical Intelligence Center, Naval Intelligence Support Center at Washington DC, and in the Vietnam Theater as a Naval Advisor for Director of Naval Intelligence (DNI) serving in the Vietnam War from March 10, 1969 to March 9, 1970.
Stamps next served as Chief Undersea Warfare and Special Projects in the Office of the Chief Operations, and later as the intelligence detailer in the Bureau of Naval Personnel.
In 1975, Stamps attended the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, later joining the staff of Commander, Cruiser Destroyer Group THREE aboard USS Chicago as Assistant Chief of Staff, Intelligence, stationed in San Diego, CA. In 1979, Stamps joined the Office of the DCNO-Surface as Staff Intelligence Officer – where he was promoted to Captain. Stamps completed his Naval career in 1984 at the Pentagon in Washington DC at the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), as Chief Military Operational Support Division.