William Edward McFate

William Edward McFate (Bill) of Falls Church, VA quietly passed away on September 1, 2025. The son of David T. McFate and Helen Marie (Browne) McFate, Bill was born in Meadville, PA on September 13, 1943 and grew up in Cochranton, PA, one of three children. He graduated from Cochranton Area Junior-Senior High School and attended Point Park University (Pittsburgh, PA) and Grove City College (Grove City, PA).

His professional career with AT&T started in 1967 in several roles in Northern Virginia. He served in the US Army from 1969-1971 in field radio maintenance (Ft. Sill, OK and Lathem, Germany). He rejoined AT&T in Pittsburgh, PA spending the balance of his career in technical and management roles of increasing importance in Northern Virginia. Over his career, he began working with electromechanical equipment transitioning to high-speed digital equipment. The proudest accomplishment of his career was developing the domestic & international digital, voice, data, and video services to support the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, Korea. In the final years of his career, he was the network and software design engineer/manager for the largest private voice, data & video network in the world, the US Government and The White House. He retired from AT&T in 1997.

Bill was a proud, private person, but was always willing to help his friends and neighbors.
Upon retirement, Bill was active in his condo community and was instrumental in developing governance processes for the financial & technology management of the condo’s board. He also volunteered to help neighbors in a myriad of ways (fixing personal computer & TV issues, driving elderly neighbors to appointments, helping with grocery shopping & errands). In many ways, he was the angel of Skyline Square taking care of those who needed assistance. He loved the holidays and was known for his colorful balcony decorations each year.

He was predeceased by his parents and his brother, Tom. He will be lovingly remembered by his sister, Carol McFate (Jensen) and her husband, Bob Jensen of Southport, NC. He will be remembered by his friends, neighbors and former co-workers for his strength, kindness, and willingness to help others.

Burial will be private, and a memorial service will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the American Cancer Society.