Douglas Riley Fleming

Doug Fleming was a multidimensional figure, a wry raconteur, gourmet, world traveler, a man of strong opinions strongly worded, with a rich store of jokes.

He died Jan. 21st, just four days short of his 94th birthday. His health had been weakening the past year and he went home to Alexandria House Jan. 6 from the hospital into hospice care. He was preceded in death by his first wife, Irene Stachowicz. He is survived by his wife of 23 years, Nancy Kincaid, and by his nieces and nephews in Ohio: Gregory Ahren, Deborah Mahoney (Dan), Suzanne Bednarski (Steve), Cynthia Souris (George) and by 12 grand-nephews and 2 grand-nieces. He was preceded in death by his sister Marie Fleming-Remer, his brother Harold (Sunny) Fleming and his nephew, Michael Ahren.

Douglas Riley Fleming was born Jan. 25, 1922 in Fairmont, West Virginia. He grew up in the Lakewood suburb of Cleveland and joined the Navy as an aviator in World War II, hunting down German submarines.

Fleming graduated from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. Told he was too old for the Foreign Service, he stayed in the Navy. He was assigned to NATO in Naples Italy and retired there. In Italy, he worked for DuPont, published the Rome Daily American and headed the American Studies Center in Naples.

He returned to the United States in 1982 and bought a Virginia farm, on which he planted wine grapes. He and Nancy entertained friends at the farm. He formed a wine cooperative and built Dominion Wine Cellars in Culpeper. For the past 20 years, he and Nancy spent Octobers in San Quirico d’Orcia, Italy.

Fleming was a gourmet cook and entertained his friends with his Lord Cholmondeley (pronounced Chumley) jokes in a British accent. He was a valued member of the Cogswell Society, whose motto was, “To temperance; I’ll drink to that.”

A fellow Cogswellian Mike Dunn told his favorite memory of Fleming: After the 9/11 attack, Fleming phoned the Pentagon to say he wanted to re-enlist. The young officer told him that because Fleming was in his 80s at the time, he was classified 14-F. Fleming said he did not know what that meant. The young officer said “It means, sir, that when the enemy gets to 14th and F Streets, we will call you up.”

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to At Home in AlexandriaDemaine Funeral Home, Alexandria, VA.