Forrest Jack Agee Jr.

Forrest “Jack” Agee, Jr. of Houston, Texas, was called home to the Lord on May 13, 2026 at the age of 84. He was born in El Paso, Texas on August 11, 1941. He was fond of saying: “I am a Texan both by birth and by inclination.” He was a “military brat” who lived all over this country, as well as in Okinawa shortly after WWII, but he always called Texas home. There once was a town in Texas called Agee. He loved coming home during the summers to visit his grandparents at their General Store, just off the highway near Wichita Falls and Agee, Texas.

Jack was educated in the public schools, and earned the opportunity to obtain a Bachelor of Science in physics with high honors from Clemson College in 1963. As an alumni he contributed to the “Bridge to Clemson” program. His Masters (1965) and Ph.D. (1967) in physics were from the University of Virginia under Frank Hereford, Jr.

Jack served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War. After serving active duty, he continued to serve in the Army Reserves, and retired as a Lt. Colonel in the Army. He also retired after 39 years in the Federal Civilian Service from the Air Force Senior Executive Service in 2006.

Jack was proud to say that he worked for the Navy, Army and the Airforce during his career. He began work for the U.S. Navy labs in acoustics related to silencing submarines in 1963. He was a math instructor at Howard Payne College (1965) and then went to the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development labs at Fort Belvoir, VA (1965-1971). At Harry Diamond Laboratories (HDL) in Adelphi, MD (1971-1979) he worked on the Safeguard Anti-Ballistic Missile System and led an EMP test for the Commander of Pacific Forces in Hawaii (APACHE). For three years he worked for BDM Corp. (1979-1982). He returned to HDL as Director of the Aurora Radiation Test Facility (1982-1990). As Technical Director of the Phillips Laboratory (1993-1995) on Kirtland AFB in Albuquerque, NM, he led research for the Shortstop electronic warfare systems used in Desert Shield and Desert Storm. At the Air Force Research Lab, Kirtland AFB he worked on High-Powered Microwaves (HMP) sources (1995-1998). His last assignment before government retirement was with the Senior Executive Service (SES) as Director of Physics and Electronics Research for the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (1998-2006). Following his government retirement he came to Rice University as Executive Director of the SPRING/CONTACT program. This was a nanoscience research program involving seven Texas universities to include Rice, University of Houston, University of Texas at Austin and Dallas, and the Pan American University to promote collaborative research efforts.

Jack loved spending time with his children and grandchildren and in later years joining in on board games. Jack had a passion for sailing and had a Sailmaster 22’ for many years. He taught water sports to Boy Scouts at camp and to cadets in Annapolis at the Academy. He was an avid reader of WWI and WWII military history, as well as British naval history. He led tours of seacoast fortifications on the East coast. He enjoyed attending both classical and bluegrass/country music concerts.

He is survived by his wife, Victoria Valentine (Powers) Agee; his son Forrest Jack Agee, III and Erin (Dominguez) Agee, his grandchildren; Jackson Seamus, Joseph and Isla, and his daughter Amber Valentine (Agee) Tobiason and Stanley Tobiason, III, his granddaughters: Jade Valentine, Scarlett and Violet.

He was preceded in death by his father, Col. Forrest Jack Agee, former Dean of Howard Payne College and his mother, Billie Jean (Irving) Agee, former hostess of the Citadel College who are both buried in Brownwood, TX. His baby brother Thomas Lee Agee died in 2018.

A visitation is set for Wednesday, May 27 from 5 to 7PM at Earthman Bellaire Funeral Home. A memorial service will be held on May 28 at 11:00 a.m. at First Presbyterian Church, 5300 Main Street, Houston, TX 77004.

Jack leaves behind a legacy of warmth and kindness, a wonderful sense of humor, and many cherished memories of time spent with family, friends and colleagues.

In lieu of flowers, please send memorial gifts to honor Lt. Col. Forrest Jack Agee to the Fire Recovery | American Legion Post 490 to help them rebuild the Post after a devastating fire destroyed this gathering place for Houston veterans and their families.