Juan Andimio Vitali

Juan Andimio Vitali 1962-2024 Whether singing opera while stuck in traffic, traveling the world with his wife Katie, or working as an Army nuclear engineer and Chief of the Nuclear Power Branch, Dr. Juan A. Vitali lived life with an unrivaled sense of passion. On February 19, Juan Andimio Vitali, 61, passed away in Falls Church, VA, from renal failure. Born on June 24,1962, in Caracas, Venezuela to Italian immigrant parents, Dr. Vitali grew up immersed in his Italian heritage. It was through the Our Lady of Pompeii Catholic Church in Caracas that he developed many close friendships with other children of Italian immigrants...friendships that he maintained throughout adulthood. Juan first became interested in nuclear power because of the 1979 Three Mile Island Accident in Pennsylvania, the site of the most serious accident in US commercial nuclear power plant operating history. University of Florida offered him a scholarship and he traveled from Venezuela to begin an illustrious career in nuclear power. At UF, Dr. Vitali earned a BS (Nuclear Engineering, 1984), MA (Engineering, 1987), and PhD (Engineering Physics/Nuclear Engineering, 1992). He later went on to receive a Certificate in Public Leadership (Brookings Institution, 2016), MS in National Resource Strategy, National Defense University (2013), and was a Harvard Senior Executive Fellow (2018). Dr. Vitali began at the Office of the Secretary of Defense as the Director of Operational Testing Evaluation of Live Fire Testing. He served as Division Chief of Integrated Logistics Support HQDA G44M overseeing acquisition programs for the HQDA G4. He also served as Strategist and Chief of Future Operations/Strategy Division at HQDA G-43/5/7 where he was responsible for integrating future operations capabilities, concepts and strategies for the Army G-4 including PESTEL analysis of mobile nuclear power plants for ground operations. From March-November 2023, Dr. Vitali was at the White House as Assistant Director, Nuclear Energy Innovation, Office of Science and Technology Policy. Until his death, Dr. Vitali was Chief of the Nuclear Power Branch, Office of the Chief of Engineers. He not only led a team of engineers to shape conditions for the adoption of nuclear power by the Army, he was also the chief concept architect for the development of mobile nuclear power plant for ground operations. Two teaching stints at Georgia Tech and University of South Carolina rounded out his 30-year career executing defense acquisition, environmental impacts and remediation, operational logistics, and nuclear power engineering. In 2000, Juan met his true love, Kathryn Bowler. Juan and Katie liked to say an Angel brought them together. They married on March 23, 2002 and spent the next 22 years traveling the world (Australia, Qatar, Italy, Venezuela, and Aruba to name a few), watching the Red Sox, and caring for their fur-babies Rosie, Olivia, and Gracie. Juan embraced Katie with loving tenderness as his partner in all things. And Katie embraced Juan, caring for him as he battled Crohn's disease for 20+ years and through more than 30 surgeries. Two years ago, Juan was diagnosed with End Stage Kidney Disease (Stage 4), requiring dialysis three times a week and the hope for a kidney transplant. And throughout it all, Katie was his calm in a storm, his chief medical advocate, and forever a symbol of hope and courage. Whether home cooking Italian food or snorkeling the barrier reef with Katie, Juan’s zest for life, quiet intellect, and bravery despite harrowing health issues, shone through. Friendships were paramount to him. He maintained friendships from childhood along with new friends he met at UF and throughout his career with the army. Friends like Virgil Peoples in particular. Juan was preceded in death by his mother, Maria Viteldzi, and father, Bruno Vitali. He is survived by beloved wife Katie, sisters and brothers-in law, Sally and Bob Gartner, Eileen and Dan Cutrona, Ted and Lisa Bowler, brother Nazareno (Elizabeth), and extended nieces and nephews. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to https://www.gofundme.com/f/memorial-juan-vitali. The memorial mass can be watch via livestream here.

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Juan Andimio Vitali

June 24, 1962 - February 19, 2024