Obituaries

Joseph LernerEnergy Economist

Joseph Lerner, 84, an economist who specialized in energy issues for a variety of federal agencies, died May 14 at Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem. He had a cerebral hemorrhage.

Dr. Lerner began his career at the Bureau of Mines in the early 1950s and later held positions with Resources for the Future, an economic research and policy organization; the Office of Emergency Preparedness; and the Treasury Department.

Starting in 1976, he spent a decade at the Federal Trade Commission and did significant analytic work on investigations into price-fixing among oil companies as well as larger competition issues affecting energy policy.

Dr. Lerner, the son of a Russian immigrant grocer, was a Baltimore native and 1943 graduate of Johns Hopkins University. He received a doctorate in economics from Harvard University.

After retiring in 1986, he moved from Takoma Park to Jerusalem and helped start a family business, Independent Media Review and Analysis, which provides summaries of Israeli politics and larger Middle East affairs with a viewpoint aligned with Israel.

Survivors include his wife of 54 years, Sue Lerner, and three children, Aaron Lerner, Berel Lerner and Tessa Auman, all of Israel; 14 grandchildren; and a great-grandchild.

Dorothy 'Dolly' MasonRegistered Nurse

Dorothy "Dolly" Grace Kimble Mason, 88, a retired registered nurse who worked about 25 years at what is now Inova Alexandria Hospital, died of kidney failure May 14 at the Artman Lutheran Home in Ambler, Pa., where she had lived for 19 months.

Mrs. Mason was a native of Upper Tract in Pendleton County, W.Va. In 1939, she received a degree in registered nursing from Rockingham Memorial Hospital in Harrisonburg, Va.

After her graduation, she accepted a nursing position at the old Alexandria Hospital on Duke and Washington streets. She worked in the labor and delivery department for many years before taking time off at the end of World War II to start her own family. She returned to the hospital in the early 1960s and continued to work until her retirement in the early 1980s.

Mrs. Mason, who lived in Alexandria for most of her adult life, was also a Girl Scout leader, volunteer and a member of the Alpha Kappa Phi social sorority.

Her husband of 34 years, Ray Mason, died in 1975.

Survivors include two daughters, Gail Mason Cicerini of Scranton, Pa., and Marte Mason Murphy of Lower Gwynedd, Pa.; two sisters; two grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.