Charles Fletcher PuseyRailroad Conductor
Charles Fletcher Pusey, 91, a railroad passenger conductor, died Nov. 10 of congestive heart failure at a hospital in Lakeland, Fla. He had lived in Lakeland since 2002.
Mr. Pusey was born in Delmar, Del., and was the son and grandson of railroad workers. After high school, he joined the Civilian Conservation Corps, and in the mid-1930s he studied at Bliss Electrical School in Takoma Park.
He then hitchhiked across the country and lived briefly in Seattle and Hollywood, Calif., before joining the merchant marine and working his way to Europe. On his return to Washington, he was a baggage handler for the Pennsylvania Railroad at Union Station.
At the beginning of World War II, Mr. Pusey enlisted in the Navy and was assigned to the Seabees, a naval construction unit. He served on projects from Iceland to the South Pacific.
After his discharge in 1946, he returned to the Pennsylvania Railroad, where he worked in the passenger service as a fireman, brakeman and, finally, conductor. He worked primarily on passenger trains between Washington and New York and remained with the railroad after it became a part of Amtrak. He retired in 1977.
Mr. Pusey lived in Southeast Washington for many years and was president of the Naylor Gardens Cooperative Housing Association. He was a member of Ryland United Methodist Church in Washington and president of its board of trustees. He volunteered for Meals on Wheels and was a member of Lafayette-Dupont Masonic Lodge 19.
His wife of 53 years, Keturah Akers Pusey, died in 1999.
Survivors include two children, Phyllis Lowry of Lakeland and Allen Pusey of Arlington; eight grandchildren; and nine great-grandchildren.
Marie L. PetrenkoSchool Official
Marie L. Petrenko, 94, a vice principal and administrator in the Montgomery County schools who introduced several progressive teaching practices, died Oct. 27 of congestive heart failure at Manor Care, an assisted-living facility in Potomac. She lived in Rockville.
Dr. Petrenko had a varied career as a professional musician, teacher and administrative secretary to Eleanor Roosevelt before she began her work with the Montgomery County schools in the early 1960s. She was among the first teachers to use newspapers as a multidisciplinary teaching tool in the classroom, and she also helped launch the county's program for gifted and talented children.
She was vice principal of Twinbrook Elementary School in the 1960s and early 1970s before joining the central administrative office of the school system. She held several administrative positions during her career of more than 30 years and was supervisor of elementary education for the county at the time she retired in 1995 at age 84.
Dr. Petrenko was born in Schenectady, N.Y., and graduated from Syracuse University with a bachelor's degree in music. Of Polish origin, she then moved to Poland and was a violinist with the Warsaw Philharmonic orchestra in 1933 and 1934. After returning to the United States, she taught music and developed education programs at Allegany High School in Cumberland, Md.
