HOWARD HOLLISTER CANTUS (Age 87) Captain, USNR (Ret.)
Hollister Cantus died on Friday, February 28, 2025, in Fairfax County, VA after a brief illness. Born in Nassau County, Long Island, NY, Hollister was raised in Cedarhurst and Hewlett. Hollister was the eldest son of Howard Justus Cantus, an attorney on Wall Street, and Eleanor Eunice Hollister, an author. In addition to his parents, he was pre-deceased by his brother, Justus Reeve Cantus of Dorset, VT. He attended South Kent School in Kent, Connecticut, where he played hockey, baseball, and football. He received his B.A. from Williams College in Massachusetts, where he also played hockey and lacrosse.
Hollister married Barbara Jane Park in February 1961 at the Cathedral of the Incarnation in Garden City, NY. He then received his commission into the United States Navy and served on active duty for the next 10 years, followed by an additional 14 years in the United States Naval Reserve. Capt. Cantus served as a Naval Flight Officer, graduated with honors from Intelligence School and Nuclear Weapons Electronic Warfare School, flew on WV-2’s (Lockheed Constellation), C-130’s (Lockheed Hercules), and P-3’s (Lockheed Orion), served as Section Chief and Project Officer in the Defense Intelligence Agency, sailed on numerous United States Navy aircraft carriers including the USS Forrestal (CV-59) where he served as Aide to the Division Flag Officer (Command Carrier Division Four). Capt. Cantus’ decorations and service ribbons include: the Meritorious Service Medal; Joint Service Commendation Medal; Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation Medal; Air Force Outstanding Unit Award; Air Force Meritorious Civilian Service Award; National Defense Service Medal; Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal; Vietnam Service Medal with 2 bronze stars; Armed Forces Reserve Medal – Navy; Republic of Vietnam (RVN) Campaign Medal; and the Navy Expert Pistol Medal.
After his active-duty service in the Navy, Hollister embarked on a 40-year career of additional government service and private sector government relations. He served as Professional Staff Member on the United States House of Representatives Committee on Armed Services and was instrumental in the drafting and passage of POW/MIA legislation, the creation of the Armed Forces Survivor Benefits Plan, as well as the All-Volunteer Force legislation which eliminated the military draft. As the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for House Legislative Affairs he was the principal advisor to Secretary of Defense Schlesinger on all legislative matters in the US House of Representatives including Defense Authorization and Appropriations bills during an extremely controversial period. He was Director of Congressional Relations for the US Energy Research & Development Administration (ERDA) which became the US Department of Energy. Hollister was Group Vice President for Government Relations at United Technologies Corporation representing the conglomerate’s Building Systems Group of companies.
Following the NASA Space Shuttle Challenger (STS-51-L) accident, Hollister re-entered government service to help the agency and its space program “return to flight.” He served as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Associate Administrator for External Relations, responsible for all Congressional, public, international, intergovernmental, and industry relations until after the successful Space Shuttle Discovery mission (STS-26). He returned to the private sector as Group Vice President of Lockheed Corporation’s Missiles & Space Systems Group working on a variety of defense, civilian, and commercial space systems including programs such as the Hubble Space Telescope and the International Space Station.
Hollister served as head of Government Relations for ICF Kaiser (now ICF) helping to win nationally significant environmental cleanup contracts at Rocky Flats (Colorado) and Hanford (Washington state), and environmental assessments (The Washington Metro Area Transit Authority’s METRO Silver Line Phase One “Rail to Dulles”, a project he continued to its construction completion with Raytheon). He founded The ILEX Group in 1985 to provide strategic and tactical advice on marketing to governments (Federal, state and local) and find market opportunities in the commercial sector leveraging his expertise in national defense, national security, energy, transportation, and aerospace industries.
In public service, as a Naval Flight Officer and as a senior civilian official, he proudly served under eight US Presidents. Additionally, he served five Virginia Governors in appointed positions, including the Virginia Commission on Military Bases, and Legislative appointee to the Joint Committee on Technology and Science’s Aerospace Advisory Committee. He served on the Boards of Directors of Aerospatiale and European Aeronautic, Defence and Space, Inc. (EADS) (now Airbus), and the Board of Visitors of the Community College of the Air Force. He was Associate Fellow of the AIAA and long-serving Board member to numerous other trade associations, corporations, non-profit organizations, and industry advisory committees as well as social organizations including the Historic GeorgeTown Club and the Capitol Hill Club.
Hollister was inducted into the Confrérie des Chevaliers du Tastevin (Nuits-Saint-Georges, France), which launched his lifelong learning and appreciation of French wines and support for the nascent Virginia wine industry. He loved travel, especially countless family trips to Hawaii after he was first stationed there in the Navy, during the Cold War, flying between Midway Island and the Aleutians as part of the Airborne Early Warning Barrier Squadron Pacific.
Hollister is survived by his wife Barbara of McLean, VA, children Charles H. Cantus (Susan) of McLean, VA, and Jane-Scott Cantus of McLean, VA, and grandson, Robert.
He will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery at a future date. In lieu of flowers, contributions in his honor may be made to the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society, 875 N. Randolph St. Suite 225, Arlington, VA 22203 (https://nmcrs.org/get-involved/donate)