Obituaries

Mary Anne GassmannOccupational Therapist, Jeweler

Mary Anne Gassmann, 79, an occupational therapist and jeweler, died Sept. 15 at The Virginian retirement home in Fairfax County. She had Alzheimer's disease.

Ms. Gassmann lived in Annandale from 1953 to 1998 and worked as an occupational therapist at the Northern Virginia Mental Health Institute in Falls Church in the 1960s and 1970s.

She was born in Waterloo, Iowa, and grew up in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. She attended Coe College in Cedar Rapids and graduated in 1947 from Western Michigan University. She worked as an occupational therapist at Michael Reese Hospital in Chicago before moving to Northern Virginia.

She volunteered with the Fairfax Hospital Auxiliary and was its president in 1986 and 1987. During the 1960s and 1970s, Ms. Gassmann was active in SHARE, a charity affiliated with St. Michael's Catholic Church in Annandale. She and her husband, Leon Gassmann, were among the original parishioners of St. Michael's. Her husband died in 1975.

Ms. Gassmann was an accomplished jeweler, who designed and made rings, necklaces, brooches and other pieces for private clients during the 1970s and 1980s. She worked primarily in silver and gold, and she cut and faceted the gems she used in her work.

Survivors include her son, Michael Gassmann of Alexandria, and a grandson.

Dorothy W. NorrisSecretary

Dorothy Welch Norris, 86, who did secretarial work in the 1960s and 1970s for the Hecht Co. in what is now the Ballston neighborhood of Arlington, died Aug. 28 at Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington. She had sepsis.

Mrs. Norris was born in Carroll, Iowa, and raised in Upstate New York. She settled in the Washington area in 1941 and did secretarial work for the War Department during World War II.

She was a member of First Church of Christ, Scientist in Arlington, her city of residence.

Her hobbies included cooking and sewing.

Her husband of 56 years, George L. Norris, died in 1998.

Survivors include two daughters, Susan Norris and Barbara Kling, both of Arlington; a sister; and two granddaughters.

Estelle Lavine SharonCIA Secretary

Estelle Lavine Sharon, 96, who did secretarial work for the Central Intelligence Agency from the late 1940s until the late 1960s, died Sept. 17 at Capital Hospice in Arlington. She had congestive heart failure.

Mrs. Sharon was born in Tannersville, N.Y., and spent her high school years in the District. She began doing secretarial work in the 1930s for the National Museum of Natural History, among other places. She did volunteer work for the American Red Cross in Washington during World War II.

A former Rockville resident, she lived most recently at Sunrise of Fairfax assisted living home.

Her husband, Isaac Sharon, whom she married in 1968, died in 1992.

She was a member of Temple Sinai in Washington.

She leaves no immediate survivors.