Federal IT company founder Will Soza dies

Will Soza, founder of Soza and Co. Ltd., an IT management consulting and accounting firm, died April 22 at the age of 75. No cause of death was reported.

Soza was born in Presidio, Texas, a small border town along the Rio Grande River, where his family had lived since the late 1700s.

After graduating from the University of Texas in 1960 with a degree in accounting, Soza spent two years in the Army. Upon his discharge in 1962, he settled in the Washington, D.C., area.

Soza and Co. began as a federal 8(a) minority-owned business.

Under his leadership, the Fairfax, Va., firm grew to more than 1, 000 employees and was named Corporation of the Year by the Greater Washington Ibero-American Chamber of Commerce in 1998.

In 2002, the company was named to Washington Technology’s Top 100 list of the largest federal IT contractors.

Soza sold the company to Perot Systems in 2003. He then helped establish what is now the John Marshall Bank, where he initially served as chairman of the board.

At the time of his death, Soza was a member of the Board of Visitors at George Mason University and the board of directors of John Marshall Bank.

Visitation will be held at Fairfax Memorial Funeral Home from 2 to 4 p.m. and 6 to 8 p.m. today. The funeral will be held at Our Lady of Good Counsel Catholic Church in Vienna, Va., on April 26 at 10:30 a.m. with burial April 27 at Mount Hebron Cemetery in Winchester, Va.