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Dr. Franklin Jay “F.J.” Pepper, a prominent psychiatrist, Vietnam veteran and husband of former Alexandria Vice Mayor and City Council member Del Pepper, died Jan. 6 following a long illness. He was 89.
Born March 21, 1935, in Omaha, Nebraska, Pepper married Del Pepper in 1966. The couple moved to Alexandria in 1968.
Pepper served in the U.S. Army Medical Corps from 1966 to 1968, including duty as a battalion surgeon in Vietnam. His honors included a Bronze Star, Combat Medical Badge and Air Medal.
He later served as chief of the psychiatry department at Inova Alexandria Hospital.
Pepper is survived by his wife of 58 years, Del Pepper; his son, Murphy Pepper; his daughter-in-law, Soo Pepper; and five grandchildren.
A memorial service was scheduled for Jan. 26, 2025, from 4 to 6 p.m. at Everly-Wheatley Funeral Home and Crematory, 1500 W. Braddock Road in Alexandria. A private interment was planned for a later date at Ivy Hill Cemetery.
The family requested donations to the Alzheimer’s Association in lieu of flowers.