1923
J.A.
2008
J.A. Conley
March 9, 1923 — February 21, 2008
J. Allison Conley, a retired FBI agent who was an Inspector and Deputy Assistant Director of the Bureau passed away on Thursday, February 21, 2008 at Morristown Memorial Hospital. He was 84 years old.
Known to his many friends as "Al", Mr. Conley spent over half of his career working at Bureau headquarters in a variety of field and management roles and lived in Arlington and McLean, Virginia for over forty years before moving to Mountainside, NJ in 2004.
He began his career with the Bureau in 1947 immediately following graduation from Western Maryland College (now McDaniel University) where his studies had been interrupted by World War II and service in the US Army. After running one-agent Resident Agent stations representing the Bureau in Yakima and Vancouver, Washington and Marysville, California, Mr. Conley joined the Bureau's Major Case Squad at the San Francisco office in 1949.
In 1960 Mr. Conley was transferred to Bureau headquarters in Washington where he was a senior official of the Identification Division, the Administrative Division and the Inspection Division. He was also a president of the FBI Recreation Association. He worked on some of the most famous cases of the era including the kidnappings of Adolph Coors III (1960), Frank Sinatra, Jr. (1961), Barbara Jean Mackle (1968) and Patty Hearst (1974). Following his retirement in 1976, Mr. Conley helped plan security for the 1976 Olympics, among other assignments, and was active in the Society of Former Special Agents.
Mr. Conley was born in Elizabeth, NJ and raised in Cranford, NJ. During World War II he was a Private First Class assigned to the 507th Car Company in England and France where he had encounters with both enemy and friendly fire as he drove staff officers to meetings near the front lines. Originally scheduled to be sent to the Pacific Theatre, Mr. Conley was instead sent to the European Theatre after breaking a leg shortly before shipping out. Once in England he met Edna Rouse, a Londoner, when she served tea to him at the USO-sponsored Eagle Club in Leicester Square. They married in April 1945.
Mr. Conley was predeceased by a son, Dean Allison, in 1974. Survivors include his wife of 62 years, Edna, a son, Derek James and his daughter-in-law Kerry Ann, both of Westfield.
Visitation will be held on Thursday, February 28 from 2-4 and 7-9 pm at the Gray Memorial Funeral Home, 12 Springfield Ave., Cranford. Funeral Services are to be held at 11 am on Friday, February 29 at the First Presbyterian Church in Cranford. Mr. Conley will be interred at Arlington National Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Mountainside Rescue Squad, Mountainside, NJ 07092.
Known to his many friends as "Al", Mr. Conley spent over half of his career working at Bureau headquarters in a variety of field and management roles and lived in Arlington and McLean, Virginia for over forty years before moving to Mountainside, NJ in 2004.
He began his career with the Bureau in 1947 immediately following graduation from Western Maryland College (now McDaniel University) where his studies had been interrupted by World War II and service in the US Army. After running one-agent Resident Agent stations representing the Bureau in Yakima and Vancouver, Washington and Marysville, California, Mr. Conley joined the Bureau's Major Case Squad at the San Francisco office in 1949.
In 1960 Mr. Conley was transferred to Bureau headquarters in Washington where he was a senior official of the Identification Division, the Administrative Division and the Inspection Division. He was also a president of the FBI Recreation Association. He worked on some of the most famous cases of the era including the kidnappings of Adolph Coors III (1960), Frank Sinatra, Jr. (1961), Barbara Jean Mackle (1968) and Patty Hearst (1974). Following his retirement in 1976, Mr. Conley helped plan security for the 1976 Olympics, among other assignments, and was active in the Society of Former Special Agents.
Mr. Conley was born in Elizabeth, NJ and raised in Cranford, NJ. During World War II he was a Private First Class assigned to the 507th Car Company in England and France where he had encounters with both enemy and friendly fire as he drove staff officers to meetings near the front lines. Originally scheduled to be sent to the Pacific Theatre, Mr. Conley was instead sent to the European Theatre after breaking a leg shortly before shipping out. Once in England he met Edna Rouse, a Londoner, when she served tea to him at the USO-sponsored Eagle Club in Leicester Square. They married in April 1945.
Mr. Conley was predeceased by a son, Dean Allison, in 1974. Survivors include his wife of 62 years, Edna, a son, Derek James and his daughter-in-law Kerry Ann, both of Westfield.
Visitation will be held on Thursday, February 28 from 2-4 and 7-9 pm at the Gray Memorial Funeral Home, 12 Springfield Ave., Cranford. Funeral Services are to be held at 11 am on Friday, February 29 at the First Presbyterian Church in Cranford. Mr. Conley will be interred at Arlington National Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Mountainside Rescue Squad, Mountainside, NJ 07092.
To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of J.A. Conley, please visit our flower store.
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