EAST MONMOUTH – Frederick R. Ackley Jr., 71, died Aug. 12, at his home in East Monmouth. Although dealing with multiple health issues for several years, he was able to maintain a productive and fulfilling life.

He was born April 26, 1937, in Rockville Centre, N.Y., and, after graduation from high school there, earned a bachelor of arts degree in English literature from Brown University in 1959, the year he married Penelope G. Price in South Hadley, Mass.

For the next 20 years, he served in the U.S. Navy in a variety of capacities, including working as a surface warfare officer on destroyers, as a counter-intelligence officer in Vietnam, and as a director of a research and analysis group in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations. During his career, Cmdr. Ackley received a master of science degree in operations research/systems analysis at the Naval Post Graduate School in Monterey, Calif., and a master of science degree in counseling and guidance from the University of Nebraska.

Once Fred retired from the Navy, the Ackley family moved to Monmouth. There, he, Penny and their three sons lived in a tiny seasonal cottage, while they worked together on the design and construction of their permanent home on their lakefront property.

During his tenure as director of a group home for troubled youth, he began studies in psychology at the University of Maine, Orono, where he was awarded a Ph.D. in 1988. Dr. Ackley worked in several capacities for the Veterans’ Administration Hospital at Togus, first as a clinical psychologist, and later as the director of the internship program.

For six years, he had a faculty appointment as a clinical associate at Orono. Recently, he closed his private practice, Annabessacook Associates. He was a member of numerous state of Maine boards, advisory committees and task forces, including those of the departments of education, mental health, retardation and substance abuse, secretary of state, and the Maine Board of Examiners of Psychologists.

He also served as a court-appointed psychologist. He found his greatest pleasures in the vitality of his family life and his personal connections with his community. He happily offered his expertise to local nonprofits and service groups, especially those addressing the problems of young people and families, such as Healthy Futures, Winthrop Unites and ACSPSP.

He was a quiet but proud baritone at the East Monmouth United Methodist Church and an enthusiastic member of the Monmouth Lions Club.

His survivors include his wife, Penny, of Monmouth; their three sons and families, Kevin Ackley and his wife, Lisa Maiocco, of Boyertown, Pa., Keith and Becky Ackley and their three sons, Ryan, Benjamin and Cameron of Montgomery, Texas, and Kent and Marie Ackley and their children, Joseph and Nicole Fontenault and Derrick Garforth, and great-granddaughter, Claire Kirkland of Somerset, Mass.; his older sister, Marilyn “Pat” Barnes of Rockville Centre, N.Y.; his sister-in-law, Debora M. Price of Brunswick; his nieces and nephews, Kathy Fenton of Virginia Beach, Va., Lynn Judd of Ramona, Calif., Tom Barnes of Orlando, Fla., David Vetter of Poway, Calif., and Rick Vetter of Escondido, Calif.

He was predeceased by his parents, Frederick R. and Hazel Downs Ackley; and a younger sister, Carol Vetter.