Thursday, February 9, 2006; B06

Cassandra George 'Cassie' MarshallHigh School Student

Cassandra George "Cassie" Marshall, 17, a student at Falls Church High School, died Jan. 31 at Inova Fairfax Hospital from complications of cerebral palsy.

Miss Marshall, who was born in Alexandria and was a lifelong resident of Reston, was a sophomore at Falls Church High School. She had previously attended Buzz Aldrin Elementary School in Reston and Herndon Middle School.

Miss Marshall was born with severe vision problems and could not speak normally. Through the use of computers, she was able to communicate, read and write. She drove a motorized wheelchair and enjoyed shopping at malls with her personal attendant, Renee Bellamy.

She enjoyed watching cooking programs on television and assisting in food preparation at home.

Her mother, Meg Marshall, died in 2001.

Survivors include her father, Steve Marshall of Reston; two sisters, Becca Marshall of Reston and Caitlin Marshall of Williamsburg; and her grandparents, Paul and Margaret George of Forty Fort, Pa.

Francis Ruthven "Frank" Ridley Jr., 79, a retired lawyer for the Labor Department who spent the past 20 years representing clients on employment matters related to their substance-abuse addictions, died Jan. 16 at Holy Cross Hospital after a heart attack. He had pneumonia.

Mr. Ridley, long a recovering alcoholic, once wrote in a letter to The Washington Post that he worked with addicts so they could "keep their jobs and the economic power to secure treatment and rehabilitation."

He was chairman of a group called Legal Advocacy Network for Substance Addiction Recovery.

He was a Philadelphia native and an Army veteran of World War II. He was a 1951 business administration graduate of Temple University and a 1961 graduate of its law school. In 1953, he received a master's degree in business administration from New York University.

In 1986, he received a master's degree in education from the University of Maryland, with a focus on rehabilitation counseling.

Initially in advertising and publicity work, Mr. Ridley settled in the Washington area in 1962 to work for the U.S. Civil Rights Commission. He was with the Defense Department from 1964 to 1968, followed by 14 years at Labor.

His marriages to Jane Sprouls King Ridley, Bonnie Glass Ridley and Elinor Shantz Ridley ended in divorce

His wife of 22 years, Dorothy Castree "Dana" Ridley, died in 2004.

Survivors include three stepchildren, Mark Stickels of Silver Spring, Katherine Hare of Arnold and Scott Stickels of Lothian; and eight grandchildren.

Elizabeth Murphy Lowe, 65, a volunteer and homemaker, died Feb. 6 at Sibley Memorial Hospital. She had been hospitalized with the flu when she developed an infection. She lived in the District.

Mrs. Lowe, a Washington native, was a graduate of Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School and Manhattanville College in Purchase, N.Y. Her father, H. Gabriel Murphy, owned 40 percent of the old Washington Senators baseball team.

Mrs. Lowe was past president of the ladies' board of the House of Mercy in Washington. She was a board member of the Rosemount Center, an organization assisting families and children in Washington's Mount Pleasant neighborhood. She also had been a trustee of Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School.

She attended religious services at the chapel of Georgetown University Hospital and at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Washington.

She enjoyed flower arranging and was a member of the Trowel Club. She also was a member of the League of Republican Women.

Survivors include her husband of 42 years, James Lowe Jr. of Washington; four children, James Lowe III of Orono, Minn., Elizabeth Lowe of Sherman Oaks, Calif., Garrett Lowe of Washington and Amanda Lowe of Bethesda; a sister; and three grandchildren.

Edith Wood Thiers, 90, a senatorial aide on Capitol Hill who later became a real estate agent, died of lung cancer Jan. 14 at Manor Care nursing home in Bethesda.

Mrs. Thiers came to Washington in 1966 to work as a legislative assistant to Sen. A.S. Mike Monroney (D-Okla.). She later worked on the staffs of senators Ralph W. Yarborough (D-Tex.) and Gale W. McGee (D-Wyo.) and also served as a staff member of the old Senate Post Office and Civil Service Committee.

She left Capitol Hill in 1978 to work as a real estate agent and property manager for William Sawyer & Co. Realtors in the District until 1989.

Mrs. Thiers was born in Kansas City, Mo., and grew up in Oklahoma City. She graduated from the Kansas City Conservatory of Music (now part of the University of Missouri-Kansas City) and from the University of Oklahoma. She lived in New Jersey before moving to Washington.

At the time of her death, she was managing partner of Wood Petroleum Co. in Spiro, Okla. She was a member of the City Tavern Club in Washington.

Her husband, Anson P. Thiers, died in 1953.

Survivors include two children, Elaine Thiers of San Leandro, Calif., and Alan S. Thiers of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico; two brothers, Fox Wood III of Spiro and Burton C. Wood of Washington; three grandsons; and one great-grandson.

Thomas F. Kane, 72, a retired postal carrier, died of a heart attack and stroke Jan. 29 at Inova Fairfax Hospital. He lived in Alexandria.

Mr. Kane was born in Nyack, N.Y., and moved to Alexandria as a child. He graduated from George Washington High School and served in the Army in Germany during the Korean War. After he left the military, he worked for the U.S. Postal Service until retiring in 1985. He moved to Florida and returned to Alexandria in 1999.

Survivors include a sister, Marjorie K. Taylor of Alexandria.

Elaine V. Emeth, 56, a Methodist minister, died of multiple sclerosis Feb. 6 at her home in Silver Spring.

The Rev. Emeth was pastor of Glenn Dale United Methodist Church in 2002 and 2003 and was associate pastor of Westminster United Methodist Church from 1998 to 2002.

She was born in Manchester, Conn., and moved to Silver Spring in 1974. She was a stay-at-home mother while also volunteering as a counselor at the Montgomery County Crisis Center and the Marian House of Prayer in Washington. She graduated summa cum laude from the University of Maryland's University College in 1993 and earned a master's degree in divinity, also summa cum laude , from the Wesley Theological Seminary in 1998.

She and Janet H. Greenhut co-wrote "The Wholeness Handbook" (1991), and the Rev. Emeth was a frequent contributor to Sojourners magazine.

Survivors include her husband of 35 years, Daniel Marion McCarthy Jr. of Silver Spring; three children, Daniel Thomas McCarthy of Chester, Md., Laura Kathleen McCarthy of Orono, Maine, and Margaret Erin McCarthy of Dumfries; her mother, Natalie Elaine Piescik of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.; four brothers, John B. Piescik Jr. of Vienna, Walter J. Piescik of Auburndale, Mass., Peter A. Piescik and Raymond W. Piescik, both of West Palm Beach, Fla.; a sister, Natalie-Jeanne Gustafson of Stuart, Fla.; and a grandson.