J Hamilton Lambert

J Hamilton Lambert passed away peacefully in his sleep at Fair Oaks Hospital early in the morning of November 3, 2025. He was two weeks shy of his eighty-fifth birthday. He is survived by his wife of 61 years, Catherine Kerrigan Lambert, and the innumerable people who loved him.

Lambert was born into a Virginia family that could trace its roots in Loudoun County back to the late 1700s. His grandfather was a revenuer for the Commonwealth and was killed in the line of duty. His father, Francis Kenneth Lambert became the man of the family but both he and his wife, Margaret Pearson Lambert, died in their fillies when I was a young child. He was subsequently raised by his grandmother, Maude, whom J credited with instilling in him a love of reading, a deep sense of religious beliefs, and a strong sense of honesty, hard work, and good manners.

Lambert, who had sustained a football injury in high school, was thus unable to obtain a scholarship to college and was turned down by the army due to his injury. He was hired by Fairfax County in 1959 and remained an employee of the county until 1990, during which time he held twenty-two job titles, culminating in a ten-year span as the County Executive. During his tenure, he was credited with accomplishing numerous programs and objectives that had escaped his predecessors. These included achieving a Low Flow Agreement on the Potomac River while serving as the Chairman of the Regional Executives Committee at the Washington DC Council of Governments, as well as the establishing strong and positive regional collaboration and cooperation. One of his greatest lasting achievements was the completion of, and the development of the funding for, the Fairfax County Governmental Center, saving the county considerable money in the process.

Following his county service, Lambert became involved with Dr. Claude Moore and others who created the Claude Moore Charitable Foundation, which accepted Dr. Moore's estate and ultimately grew the initial corpus of seventeen million dollars in land and very little cash. To-date, over $117 million dollars has been granted to various charitable causes. Serving as the Foundation's Executive Director, Lambert helped to develop and finance a program to train young people in medical technologies. As of now, 35,000 young men and women from 56 school districts across the Commonwealth of Virginia have graduated from the program. For the 2024-2025 academic year, our total program enrollment is 8,075 students.

Over his career, Lambert received innumerable honors and awards, including his many years of service as Chairman of the Board of the Rickover Foundation. Lambert, who had a high school education, chaired the Board that included four former Presidents of the United States. Lambert's twelve years of formal education were complemented by an extraordinary mind and many years of self-education. Although typically being the smartest and most insightful man in any room, Lambert was extremely modest. He is best known as a man with a great sense of humor and an ability to accomplish tasks that had long eluded others.

J Hamilton Lambert lived his life by four rules; take care of your family, take care of your friends, never be a burden on anybody, and never take crap from anyone.

Service will be held Wednesday, November 12, 2025 at 2 p.m., at St. John the Apostle Catholic Church, 101 Oakcrest Manor Drive, NE, Leesburg, VA 20176.

A Celebration of J's Life will be held following the service at 3:30 p.m., at The Barn at Willow Brook, 15486 Limestone School Road, Leesburg, VA 20176.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a gift to the J Hamilton Lambert Fund, benefitting the Claude Moore Scholars Program.

Donations can be made by mail to: Claude Moore Opportunities,11350 Random Hills Road, Suite 730, Fairfax, VA 22030.

Please make checks payable to “Claude Moore Opportunities” or online at https://cm-opportunities.org/