Thursday, April 20, 2006; B07

Robert Francis MonsNaval Engineer

Robert Francis Mons, 59, an engineer who designed underwater naval vehicles and weapons, died of leukemia April 15 at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. He lived in Annapolis.

Dr. Mons had worked for Northrop Grumman Corp.'s oceanic and naval stations unit in Annapolis since 1971. He helped design and build underwater vehicles, torpedoes and mine-hunting and sonar systems for the Navy.

He was born in Bayonne, N.J., and graduated from the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn, now Polytechnic University of New York, with joint bachelor's and master's degrees. In 1971, he received a doctorate from the same institution in aeronautics and astronautics.

Dr. Mons bought a 1962 Corvette from a junkyard and rebuilt it to near-mint condition, occasionally racing in road rallies. He was a member of Corvette Annapolis, an auto enthusiasts' club. He and his wife sailed on the Chesapeake Bay for more than 20 years.

He was a member of St. Andrew by the Bay Catholic Church in Annapolis.

Survivors include his wife of 36 years, Susanne Mons of Annapolis; two children, Gregory Mons of Houston and Christine Mons Gould of Germantown; and one grandson.

Margaret Anne Woodrum, 84, a homemaker and former postal employee, died of respiratory failure April 16 at the Titusville Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Florida. She had lived in Washington until 2003.

Mrs. Woodrum, a fourth-generation Washingtonian, almost didn't make it past her first 18 months of life. In July 1923, Margaret Blackman fell from an open window at her family's home on Volta Place NW. She was uninjured, newspapers at the time reported.

She married Thomas Rudolph Woodrum in 1940 and became a full-time homemaker until after her divorce in 1969. She then went to work for the U.S. Postal Service in Rockville, working there until retiring in 1984.

Mrs. Woodrum enjoyed sewing, crafts, dolls, arts, music and dancing. She was a self-taught pianist and organist and danced with a retirement group in Rockville in later years.

Survivors include five children, Dianne Jensen of Gaithersburg, Dolores Woodrum of Titusville, Melodye Butler of Rock Springs, Wyo., Dale Woodrum of Rosemont, Md., and Carmen Gagnon of Hagerstown; a sister; 12 grandchildren; 14 great-grandchildren; and one great-great-granddaughter.

Edward "Ward" St. Clair Buckler III, 65, a retired senior civilian manager for computer and communication systems with the Navy Department, died of bladder cancer March 24 at his companion's home in Glen Arm, Md. He was a former resident of Arlington.

Mr. Buckler joined the Naval Regional Data Automation Center in 1965 and helped lead the shift to a computerized Navy. He retired in 1994.

A native of Baltimore, Mr. Buckler graduated from Baltimore Polytechnic Institute. He attended Middlebury College and the University of Maryland. He served in Army counterintelligence in Berlin from 1962 to 1965, before working in Washington.

Mr. Buckler was a soccer coach and a Boy Scout leader for 12 years in Arlington. After retiring, he moved to Flattop Mountain, Va., and Baltimore, where he pursued his interests of nature, travel and photography.

His wife of 32 years, Eleanore Jordan Small Buckler, died in 1998.

Survivors include two sons, Edward St. Clair Buckler IV of Ithaca, N.Y., and Joseph Jordan Buckler of Richmond; his companion, Susan Killian of Glen Arm; two sisters, Clara Elizabeth Buckler Veronis of Annapolis and Jane Scott of Kailu Kona, Hawaii; and three grandchildren.

Karen Hidalgo, 80, a former volunteer at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, died of complications from Alzheimer's disease March 21 at the Hospice of Palm Beach County in Florida. She had lived in Jupiter, Fla., since 1990.

She was born in Neptune, N.J., and came to Washington in 1965. She lived in Paris from 1966 to 1971, when she returned to Washington.

Mrs. Hidalgo was married to Edward Hidalgo, secretary of the Navy during the Carter administration, and she was involved in many Navy and administration social events.

Her marriage ended in divorce.

Survivors include four stepchildren, Joanne Hidalgo Tosti of Los Angeles, Edward Hidalgo Jr. of Stuart, Fla., Ricardo Hidalgo of Seattle and Tila Hidalgo of Houston; a brother; a sister; and six grandchildren.

Gonza Lee White, 62, a computer programmer and analyst who spent the past few years with the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, died April 12 at Fort Washington Hospital after a heart attack.

Mr. White, a Fort Washington resident, earlier worked for Riggs Bank, the Department of Veterans Affairs and Amtrak.

A native of Marianna, Fla., he served in the Air Force from 1962 to 1966 and retired from the reserves in 1994 as a master sergeant.

He received an associate's degree in computer technology in 1973 from Washington Technical Institute and was a 1981 business administration graduate of the University of the District of Columbia.

He was a former Boy Scouts volunteer.

Survivors include his wife of 38 years, Catherine Reilly White of Fort Washington; two children, Heather White of Bowie and Christopher White of Fort Washington; his father, Alonzo Long of Marianna; and two sisters.