Dell Jerome "Jerry" Loftis

Dell Jerome (Jerry) Loftis, 89, of Fairhope, Alabama, passed away on March 12, 2026. Born in Washington, D.C., he was the second of seven children born to Helen Grace Hughes Loftis and Reuben Orlando Loftis. He graduated from George Washington High School in Alexandria, Virginia. In 1956, Jerry began his career with the Bell System in Washington, D.C. The following year, he joined the United States Coast Guard, serving on active duty until 1959 and receiving an Honorable Discharge. He returned to the Bell System, advancing through various management positions before transitioning in 1968 to a long career in federal telecommunications.

For thirty years, Jerry held management roles with the General Services Administration, the Federal Aviation Administration, the Department of Transportation, and the Department of the Treasury. In his final eight years of service, he served as Project Manager for the Treasury Department, overseeing the procurement, implementation, and operation of a major replacement telecommunications system for Treasury and its ten bureaus in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. He retired from federal service in 1996.

In 2005, Jerry and his wife Lydia moved from Northern Virginia to Fairhope, Alabama, where they created many cherished memories traveling the country in their RV with their cats, visiting their children in Maryland and Florida, spending time with his sister Jill and brother-in-law Don Lemon in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and enjoying the company of friends and neighbors in Quail Creek Estates. Jerry was a man of deep faith who loved his country and his family. He showed great compassion for all animals, especially cats, and found joy in classic country and bluegrass music, classic cars, fishing and crabbing in the Chesapeake Bay, and gathering each year with family and friends to enjoy Maryland blue crabs at Sandgate’s Inn on the Patuxent River.

Jerry was preceded in death by his parents, his son Brian Loftis, his brother Charles Jackson Loftis, and his sister Carolyn Loftis Johnson. He is survived by his wife, Lydia Loftis of Fairhope, Alabama; his sons Justin Loftis of New Port Richey, Florida, Gregory (Andrea) Loftis of Jefferson, Maryland, and Jeremy (Jennifer) Loftis of Clarksburg, Maryland; his granddaughters Josie and Jillian Loftis; his step-grandchildren Salvatore and Marian DePrenda, and Andrew and Aubree Vincent; his stepsons Kenneth Fiveash and Christopher Fiveash of Cantonment, Florida; and his sisters Jill Lemon of Durham, North Carolina, Pat Loftis of Rogers, Arkansas, Natalie Allen of Greensboro, North Carolina, and Trudy Loftis of Randleman, North Carolina.