John Simonson Ekstrom, Capt. USN, Rtd, 79, of Locust Grove passed away Saturday July 25, 2015 at Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center. John was born on May 12, 1936 to Swen Edmund and Elizabeth (Simonson) Ekstrom, in Ironwood, MI. He graduated from Luther L. Wright High School where he was active in sports, debate and ROTC. John attended Bullis Prep School and received a B.S. in Naval Science at the US Naval Academy, class of 1959. He married Rosalie Ann Lucas on February 24, 1962 while stationed at Mayport Naval Station near Jacksonville, FL on the USS Shangri La.

John loved traveling the world with Rosalie, entertaining, fishing, hunting, good restaurants, spending time at the family cottage on Lake Gogebic, MI, fixing cars, and teaching his family about music and history. With the nick name, The Dancing Bear, John was well known for his love of music and dancing, from ball room to Cha Cha and Salsa.

During his 31 year career in the Navy, he served on an aircraft carrier, a heavy cruiser, four destroyers, a destroyer escort, a helicopter-equipped frigate, a destroyer squadron staff, and the Third Fleet staff in Hawaii. He participated in the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Vietnam War. He was the Commanding officer of the U.S. Navy Ceremonial Guard in Washington, D.C., Executive officer of the destroyers Harwood and Strong, and the Commanding officer of the frigate Ouellet and the Destroyer Escort Charles E. Brannon. He received a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering at the Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey California. He graduated from the National War College in 1981, then reported to the logistics directorate of the JCS Joint Staff/Pentagon as the Chief of the Strategic Mobility Division. After retiring from the Navy in 1985, John and Rosalie formed their own company, Ocean Marine Systems, Inc. and later, Ocean Marine Navigation Company. John also worked for MAR, Inc.as VP for Marine Marketing.

Survivors include his wife Rosalie, 4 daughters; Kathleen Ekstrom Whitman (Jon), Elizabeth Ann Ekstrom Mestre (Rick), Andrea Lee Ekstrom Willey (Karl), Sarah Lucas Ekstrom; sister Linda Arnould and 5 grandchildren; Brittany Register, Dominic and Alicia Mestre, Maya Willey, and Lily Whitman. Visitation will be held on Saturday, August 1, 2015 from 10 am to 12 noon with the funeral service at 12 noon, at Laurel Hill Funeral Home in Spotsylvania, VA. A reception will follow at The Woods Center at Lake of the Woods. Interment services with Full Military Honors will be held at Arlington National Cemetery at a later date. In lieu of flowers the family suggests contributions in John's name to the Alzheimer's Association at www.alz.org.