Monday, March 6, 2006
Adrienne T. FarrellJournalist, Painter
Adrienne T. Farrell, 82, a retired journalist and painter, died of a heart ailment Feb. 28 at the Georgetown Retirement Home in Washington, where she lived.
Mrs. Farrell was born in New York City and graduated from George Washington University. She began writing for the Alexandria Gazette while a college student, and after graduation joined The Washington Post.
After World War II, she worked for the Marshall Plan in the Far East and Europe. She lived in Paris from the mid-1950s until the early 1970s and studied painting at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière. She began to exhibit her work, done in the abstract expressionist style, in French galleries and at the Paris Museum of Modern Art.
After her return to Washington, she freelanced articles on cultural affairs to the New York Times and Smithsonian magazine, among others. She was a member of the National Press Club and of the Washington Post E-Streeters, a social club of former staff members.
Her husband, Robert E. Farrell, died in 1999. A daughter, Katrina Luba Farrell, died in 1995.
Survivors include a daughter, Amy Pia Farrell of Paris; a brother; and a granddaughter.
Brian Edward FiffickNTSB ManagerBrian Edward Fiffick, 33, who was disaster assistance manager with the National Transportation Safety Board, died Feb. 25 at the Washington Hospital Center from injuries resulting from a traffic accident in Woodbridge. He lived in Alexandria.
He was born in Youngstown, Ohio, and was a biology graduate of Arizona State University. He worked as an embalmer at a funeral home and then as a senior forensic technician for Maricopa County medical examiner's office in Phoenix. He joined the National Transportation Safety Board in 1999 and worked in the office of transportation disaster assistance.
Mr. Fiffick was a member of St. Mary Catholic Church in Alexandria.
His marriage to Dawne Hardesty ended in divorce.
Survivors include his father, D. Edward J. Fiffick of Osprey, Fla., and his mother, Barbara Fiffick of Youngstown, Ohio; two brothers; and three sisters.
Elizabeth Clagett ClarkJournalistElizabeth Clagett Clark, 101, a journalist, died of pneumonia March 1 at her home in Mitchellville.
A native Washingtonian who lived in the District until 1988, Miss Clark graduated from George Washington University and began writing for McGraw-Hill trade papers, the New Orleans Times-Picayune and Aviation Week. She was a member of the White House Correspondents' Association.
During World War II, she was an economic analyst for the D.C. Minimum Wage Board, investigating women's employment in the civilian war effort. Later, she worked for the War Production Board and its successor, the Civilian Production Administration, where she headed the news campaign for veterans housing.
During the Korean War, she was a press officer for the news division of the National Production Authority.
Miss Clark wrote an anecdotal account of her mother's family, "The Clagetts of Keokuk" (1986), receiving an award from the Prince George's County Historical Society for the work.
She leaves no immediate survivors.
Edward Magruder CookFDIC EmployeeEdward Magruder Cook, 82, a retired Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. employee, died of complications of a stroke March 2 at Inova Fairfax Hospital. He lived in Oakton.
Mr. Cook worked for the FDIC until his retirement in 1981. Previously, he worked as an educational training officer for the Internal Revenue Service and the Census Bureau.
He was born in Omaha and raised in Oklahoma and northwestern Arkansas. Mr. Cook served in the Army during World War II in the North African and European theaters and was awarded three Bronze Stars.
After the war, he graduated from the University of Arkansas and worked briefly as a public school teacher in Arlington County in the 1950s before joining the federal government.
He was a longtime member of and volunteer for Vienna Presbyterian Church, Toastmasters International and the American Red Cross. He enjoyed classical music, literature, real fireplaces, travel and the outdoors.
His wife of 51 years, Joanne Cook, died in 2003.
Survivors include four sons, Edward Cook Jr. of Tel Aviv, Craig Cook of Burke, Robert Cook of Huntsville, Ala., and Brian Cook of Greensboro, N.C.; and eight grandchildren.
Richard A. PooleForeign Service OfficerRichard A. Poole, 86, a Foreign Service officer who was a member of a team that drafted a new Japanese constitution after World War II, died Feb. 26 of a heart attack at his home in McLean.
As a 26-year-old Navy officer in 1946, Mr. Poole served on a committee chosen by the staff of Gen. Douglas A. MacArthur to create a constitution for Japan and define the role of the emperor. Mr. Poole was credited by a Japanese newspaper with developing the idea that the emperor should have a symbolic role in Japanese society, similar to that of the British monarch. The purpose in limiting the power of the emperor was to foster a democratic, constitutional government in Japan.
Mr. Poole was born in Yokohama, Japan, to a family that had been involved in the import-export trade for decades. After an earthquake in Japan, Mr. Poole's family moved to Summit, N.J., in 1923. After graduating from Haverford College in Pennsylvania in 1940, he promptly joined the Foreign Service.
He served in the Navy in World War II and during the postwar period in which he served on the Japanese constitutional committee. After returning to the Foreign Service, he held diplomatic posts in countries on five continents, including Canada, Colombia, Indonesia, Japan, Singapore and Burkina Faso. He retired in 1979.
Mr. Poole lived in McLean and was a member of the board of directors of the McLean Citizens Association and served on the McLean Planning Committee. He was also chairman of the McLean Trees Committee and coordinated the planting of thousands of trees in the city. He became known locally as "Mr. Trees." In recent years, he helped found the McLean Trees Foundation.
Survivors include his wife of 48 years, Jillian H. Poole of McLean; two sons, Anthony H. Poole of Arlington and Colin R. Poole of Santa Fe, N.M.; a brother; and two granddaughters.
John Martine CourtNavy Captain, AttorneyJohn Martine Court, 90, a retired Navy captain and attorney who lived what he described as "a most felicitous life," died of lung cancer March 1 at his home in Harwood.
Capt. Court was born in Philadelphia, the son of a naval officer, and grew up in the Philippines and Washington. A Washington Senators fan and a schoolboy debater, he graduated from Western High School in 1932. He enrolled in the U.S. Naval Academy, rooming with another Western High School graduate, John Harllee Carmichael, and the pair later married sisters.
After graduation, Capt. Court served aboard the cruiser USS New Orleans, and in 1940, he attended postgraduate school in naval architecture. During World War II, Capt. Court served in the Pacific theater, first with the Pacific Fleet Service Force at Pearl Harbor and then shipboard with Service Squadron Ten, after the campaign through the Marshall Islands, the Philippines, Okinawa and Tokyo Bay. During the Korean War, he served in Japan and then aboard ship near the Straits of Tsushima.
After Korea, he received a master's degree in business administration from George Washington University in 1952. His final tours of naval duty were as assistant comptroller of the Bureau of Ships, first in Washington and then in Norfolk.
After his 1959 retirement from the Navy, he graduated from the College of William and Mary's law school in 1961. In 1967, he returned to Maryland where, for the next 16 years until he retired, Capt. Court served as assistant county solicitor for Anne Arundel County. During that time, he was also a founding member of and legal counsel to the Chesapeake Environmental Protection Association.
He enjoyed his home overlooking the West River and the Chesapeake Bay, where he and his wife entertained an endless stream of visitors. He also enjoyed travel, both domestic and foreign. He was a tennis player, gardener and sailor.
His wife of 62 years, Mildred Lewis Ellyson Court, died in 2005.
Survivors include seven children, Kenneth Court of Easton, Md., Lawrance Court of West River, Sarah Court Rohrbach of Harwood, John Court of the Azores, Portugal, William Court of Tokyo, Anthony Court of San Diego, and Helen Glenn Court of Chevy Chase; 12 grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.
Mary Elizabeth ClareWriter, Performer
Mary Elizabeth Slattery Clare, a former federal employee, amateur performer and freelance writer, died of cancer March 1 at her home in Chadds Ford, Pa. She was 70; she was born on the leap year date of Feb. 29, 1936.
Mrs. Clare worked as a writer and editor for various federal agencies, including the Government Printing Office, the National Park Service, the National Cancer Institute and the Bureau of Mines, from which she retired eight years ago. She freelanced travel articles to a variety of publications, including The Washington Post.
While at the Park Service, she researched the role of music in the 1800s and performed as the "music lady" at the Custis-Lee mansion in Arlington, interpreting the role of one of the Lee daughters.
Mrs. Clare enjoyed theater work, performing as a singer and dancer with the Washington Light Opera Company, the Hexagon Players and the Montgomery Players. She directed performances at Trinity Theatre in Georgetown and at the Chevy Chase Community Center. She also wrote plays, including an adaptation of "Tom Sawyer," a history of Chevy Chase, a play about Yorktown and a children's adaptation of the opera "Hansel and Gretel."
She was born in Washington and graduated from Holy Cross Academy and Catholic University. She was a member and past director of the local chapter of the Daughters of St. Francis de Sales.
Survivors include her husband, William F. Clare III of Chadds Ford; three sons, William Clare of Finksburg, Md., Daniel Clare of Walpole, Mass., and Robert Clare of West Chester, Pa.; a brother, Daniel Slattery of Bethesda; and seven grandchildren.
Carol Furman KaneClub MemberCarol Furman Kane, 72, a member of Alexandria's River Port Garden Club and the Mount Vernon House and Garden Club, died of cancer Feb. 24 at her home in Alexandria.
She was also a member of Christ Church in Alexandria, the Women's Committee for the National Symphony Orchestra and the Ladies Book Club in Alexandria.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., she came with her parents to the Washington area at the beginning of World War II. They were among the first residents of Fairlington, a housing community in Arlington.
She graduated from Washington-Lee High School and Southern Seminary and Junior College in Buena Vista, Va.
She worked as an administrative assistant for the CIA before her marriage in 1955 to Charles Kane, a Navy officer. She accompanied him on his assignments in Honolulu, London, Jacksonville, Fla., and the Washington area.
After her husband's retirement, the couple traveled to England, Scotland, Ireland, Russia, Canada, Mexico and Scandinavia.
In addition to her husband, of Alexandria, survivors include two daughters, Melissa "Li" Evans Kane of Roanoke, Va., and Elizabeth "Betsy" Clarke Kane Wilson of Destin, Fla., and a grandson.
Helen CoxBoard Member, VolunteerHelen Hart Cox, 81, a prolific member of boards and civic organizations in Alexandria, died March 3 at Inova Mount Vernon Hospital. She had Parkinson's disease.
Mrs. Cox was a Richmond native and a graduate of Hollins University in Virginia. She settled in Alexandria in 1966.
She was member of Alexandria's Old Presbyterian Meeting House, where she taught Sunday school for 15 years and served on architectural restoration and other committees.
She was a former board member of the Alexandria Community Y (now the Campagna Center) and was a former chairman of its Christmas Walk fundraiser.
She also served on the board of the Alexandria Library Company, a predecessor of the city's public library that also maintains a collection of Southern history.
She was a former president of the Hunting Creek Garden Club in Fairfax County.
She volunteered at the Mount Vernon Mental Health Center in Alexandria; was a docent at Gunston Hall plantation, the Mason Neck home of Colonial-era figure George Mason; and was a docent and board member at the Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Shop museum in Alexandria.
Her memberships included Belle Haven Country Club in Alexandria, Daughters of the American Revolution and National Society of the Colonial Dames of America.
She also belonged to book and bridge clubs.
Survivors include her husband of 54 years, James P. Cox Jr. of Alexandria; four children, Mary Olivia MacLeod and Helen H. Cox, both of Alexandria, James P. Cox III of Charlottesville and Thomas H. Cox of La Jolla, Calif.; and five grandchildren.
William H. StapletonFBI AgentWilliam H. Stapleton, 88, a retired special agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, died of cancer Feb. 10 at Reston Hospital Center in Reston. He was a longtime Alexandria resident before moving to Reston in the early 1980s.
Mr. Stapleton was born in New York. After graduating from high school, he worked as a clerk in the FBI's New York office and then served in the Marine Corps for three years during World War II. He re-joined the bureau in 1945 and received a bachelor's degree in business administration from Fordham University in 1951.
During his career as an FBI agent, Mr. Stapleton served in the Richmond and Washington field offices, as well as at FBI headquarters. As a special agent, he was involved in criminal investigations and counterintelligence work and rose through the ranks at FBI headquarters in the crime records division. For nearly 20 years, he was the face and voice of the bureau, appearing on television and radio locally and nationwide.
A highlight of his career was his work establishing the FBI headquarters tour that, under his direction, became a top Washington attraction. He recruited and trained hundreds of tour leaders and representatives of the bureau and was instrumental in introducing women into the ranks of professional tour leaders. In addition, he was the bureau's official VIP emissary and welcomed celebrities and heads of state to the offices, shooting ranges and labs at FBI headquarters.
Mr. Stapleton retired in 1973. From 1974 to 1977, he was staff director of the U.S. House of Representatives' Internal Security Committee before retiring a second time.
He was a member of the Fordham Club of Washington, the Society of Former Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and president of the Orchard Green Residents Association.
Survivors include his wife of 56 years, Alice Patricia Stapleton of Reston; three children, William H. Stapleton Jr. of Alexandria, Joan Stapleton Tooley of Billings, Mont., and Eileen P. Stapleton Keller of Lake Forest, Ill.; and four grandchildren.
Joseph E. DoughertyHHS OfficialJoseph E. Dougherty, 71, an official with the Department of Health and Human Services who helped establish early policies regarding Medicaid, died Feb. 14 of lung cancer at his home in Chevy Chase.
Mr. Dougherty was born in Hazelton, Pa., and was a 1955 graduate of Mount St. Mary's College -- now University -- in Emmitsburg, Md. After serving in the Marine Corps, he moved to Washington in the late 1950s to work for what then was Riggs Bank.
He later worked as a bank examiner for the Treasury Department and as an accountant with Blue Cross and Blue Shield. He spent about 20 years at Health and Human Services and retired in 1993.
Mr. Dougherty was a member of the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in Washington. In retirement, he enjoyed playing golf.
His wife, Peggy Jo Dougherty, died in 1987.
Survivors include a daughter, Shannon Dougherty of Bladensburg.