Albert G. Van Metre Sr.

Van Metre, Sr. Albert G. Prominent Real Estate Developer Albert G. Van Metre, Sr., Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the tremendously successful real estate enterprise, Van Metre Companies, died Sunday in Arlington, Virginia. He was surrounded by his wife, Joan, and his immediate family. He was 82. Mr. Van Metre founded the Van Metre Companies in 1955 and has been at the helm ever since. Under his leadership, the Company became one of the largest and most successful privately-held diversified real estate companies in the Washington Metropolitan area. The Company started out building a couple of homes in 1955 and today has built more than 15,000 single family homes, townhomes, condominiums and apartments as well as one-half million square feet of community retail and commercial office in the Washington Metropolitan area. In particular, Van Metre Companies specialized in award-winning Master Planned Communities such as Broadlands and Stone Ridge. He was awarded both the nationally recognized Entrepreneur of the Year Award and the coveted Finest for Family Living Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2007, Van Metre Homes was recognized by J.D. Powers as being highest in overall customer satisfaction with new home buyers in the Washington Metropolitan area. Born in Washington, DC on January 24, 1926, the son of a Navy Commodore, Mr. Van Metre attended the United States Naval Academy and later graduated from The George Washington University with a degree in engineering. Mr. Van Metre was an accomplished sailor, having raced his Annapolis-based yacht, Running Tide, to wins in virtually every major yachting event on the East Coast, including the Southern Ocean Racing Circuit and the 1976 Annapolis to Bermuda Race. Combining his love of sailing and his philanthropic endeavors, Al and Joan Van Metre helped found the Hospice Cup Regatta to raise money for area non-profit hospices. In 2007, the event raised over $500,000. It is the largest charity sailing regatta in the country. In its history it has raised $8 million. Mr. Van Metre and the Van Metre Companies raised and contributed millions of dollars for Children's Hospital and other local charities. Mr. Van Metre was a member of the Navy Marine Coast Guard Resident Foundation and the Naval Academy Foundation. He served with his wife, Joan, as Chairs of the Race Committee of the Hospice Cup and he is a former board member of St. Stephen's School, Alexandria, Virginia. Mr. Van Metre loved his work and never distinguished between work and leisure. With vision, determination, integrity and passion, Mr. Van Metre built the Van Metre Companies to continue for generations. In accordance with his plans, the Company will forge ahead with a sound management team and vision for the future. Mr. Van Metre is survived by his wife, Joan Harmon Van Metre, his sister Evelina Thompson Hoermann, and his cousin Albert Cohen. He has two children, Albert G. "Beau" Van Metre, Jr. and Alison Van Metre Paley, by his first marriage to Charlotte Crofford, and a son, Thomas Earle Van Metre, III, by his second wife, Patricia Rogers. He has 5 stepchildren: Brad Gable, Jeff Gable, Julie Gable, Randall Wade Everett, III, and Whitney Williams; 17 grandchildren; and 2 great-grandchildren. The family will receive friends at Fairfax Memorial Funeral Home located at 9902 Braddock Road, Fairfax, Virginia on Thursday, March 6th between the hours of 2:00pm – 4:00pm and 7:00pm – 9:00pm. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that contributions be made to Capital Hospice, Inc. at 6565 Arlington Blvd., Suite 500, Falls Church, Virginia 22042, toward the building fund of its upcoming Loudoun County facility, the Van Metre Campus for Hospice Care.