Friday, May 19, 2006
Shirley Van Sant CarsonVolunteer
Shirley Van Sant Carson, 70, who volunteered for and led groups supporting the cause of people with mental disabilities, died May 16 at the Regency Park assisted living center in Gambrills. She had Alzheimer's disease.
She moved to the Annapolis area in 1966, after her husband's appointment to the faculty of the U.S. Naval Academy. She was a volunteer member of the academy's chapel flowers committee and a member of the wives club for many years.
She and her husband, Bernard Carson, a professor emeritus in the Department of Aerospace Engineering, frequently welcomed midshipmen into their home.
Mrs. Carson was also known for her lifelong work in behalf of people with autism, mental retardation and other developmental disabilities. She was a volunteer and board member at the Anne Arundel County Association for Retarded Citizens (now the Arc of Anne Arundel) for many years and served as its president and executive director. She was a board member of the Maryland Trust for Retarded Citizens for more than 20 years. She was honored by the Maryland legislature in 1998 for more than 30 years of service on issues related to mental retardation.
As a board member of the Arc, Mrs. Carson helped to establish a number of residential programs, including Bello Machre in Glen Burnie and Alternative Living Inc. in Annapolis. In 1981, she was a founder of Langton Green Inc., a residential home in Annapolis for people with developmental disabilities.
Mrs. Carson was born in Fort Washington, Pa., and graduated from Pennsylvania State University. She was a member of the Pi Beta Phi sorority and of St. Martin's Evangelical Lutheran Church in Annapolis.
Survivors include her husband of 49 years, Bernard H. Carson of Severna Park; two children, Scott D. Carson of Crofton and Anne E. Carson of Annapolis; a sister; and two granddaughters.
Charles Edison GilbertPrinter, Magazine PublisherCharles Edison Gilbert, 64, a Vienna printer who was co-founder and publisher of a magazine called RV Enthusiast, died of a heart attack May 12 at Inova Fairfax Hospital.
Mr. Gilbert was born in the District and graduated from Chamberlain Vocational High School in 1960.
He worked in the printing industry for nearly 45 years, beginning with the Reprint Co. He had been vice president of Frank Gumpert Printing in the District. In 1981, he became founder and president of GM Printing in Vienna.
He donated his time and energy to a number of youth sports programs in Northern Virginia and helped establish Boys & Girls clubs in Luray, Va., and Falls Church. During the 1970s and 1980s, he was a member of the Jaycees and was a member and past president of the Vienna Ayrhill Lions Club.
He was president of the Friends of Homeless Animals, an organization dedicated to saving abandoned and abused dogs and cats.
His marriage to Caroline Branca Gilbert ended in divorce.
Survivors include his wife of 28 years, Susan Gilbert of Vienna; three children from his first marriage, Catherine Aldrich of Lakewood, Ohio, John Gilbert of Ashburn and Andrew Gilbert of Kent, Ohio; a stepdaughter from his second marriage, Amy Ellickson of Huntingtown; a brother; and six grandchildren.
Millicent Vogel GoughEditorMillicent Vogel Gough, 81, a retired editor with the National Science Foundation, died of pneumonia April 25 at the Fairhaven retirement community in Sykesville, Md. She was a former Chevy Chase resident.
Mrs. Gough was born in Washington and graduated from Wilson High School in 1943. She received a bachelor's degree in 1947 from Indiana University, where she was a member of the Alpha Delta Pi sorority.
She joined the Army Map Service as an editor in 1947 and stayed until the mid-1960s, when she became a homemaker. She went back to work in 1982 as the chief editor for the Science Resource Study Division of the National Science Foundation. She retired in 1993.
Mrs. Gough was a former member of Chevy Chase Presbyterian Church and more recently Christ Episcopal Church in Kensington. She was a cancer survivor for 24 years and enjoyed playing the piano, cooking, reading, writing and listening to music. She also enjoyed her two dogs.
Her husband, Gaines Homer Gough, died in 1986.
Survivors include her daughter, Melanie Anne Cooley of Keymar, Md.; and four grandchildren.
Bessie L. JonesPiano Teacher, OrganistBessie L. Jones, 89, a piano teacher and church organist, died of cancer April 27 at the Laurel Gardens nursing home in Glastonbury, Conn., where she had lived since June.
Mrs. Jones, an accomplished pianist, gave lessons at her home in Arlington for many years. She also played the organ at Garfield Memorial Christian Church in McLean, where she was a member.
She was born in Aberdeen, Scotland, and she was 4 when her family came to the United States. She grew up in Greenfield, Mass., and became an American citizen. She married in 1935 and in 1944, moved to Arlington when her husband got a job at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Mrs. Jones was known as a fabulous cook, and she enjoyed entertaining friends and relatives.
Over the years, she also was a member of Columbia Baptist Church in Falls Church and Westover Baptist Church in Arlington.
Her husband of 40 years, Lawrence A. Jones, died in 1975.
Survivors include three daughters, Anne Marie Clohisy of Fairfax Station, Judith Elizabeth Conland of Storrs, Conn., and Carol Jean Brower of Chandler, Ariz.; 10 grandchildren; and 15 great-grandchildren.
Emily Brown ReynoldsClub AdministratorEmily Brown Reynolds, 74, administrator of the Arlington Forest Club during the 1970s and 1980s, died May 11 of advanced emphysema at the Manor Care nursing home in Arlington, where she lived.
Mrs. Reynolds was the secretary and membership manager of the 675-family swimming and racquet club and was the club's diving representative to the Northern Virginia Swimming League.
She also bred and trained dogs for many years. She showed boxers and papillons to championships and advanced obedience degrees. She was an instructor for the Northern Virginia Dog Training Club from the 1970s until 1989.
Previously, she worked as an office manager for the Presidential Classroom for Young Americans, a nonprofit organization that lets high school juniors and seniors observe the federal government at work.
Mrs. Reynolds was a member of the American Contract Bridge League and played with the Arlington County Senior Bridge Group. In 2002, she received its Paladino Trophy as outstanding player.
She also was a member of St. George's Episcopal Church in Arlington and the Boulevard Manor Civic Association.
Mrs. Reynolds was born in Shreveport, La. She attended the former Gulf Park College and Louisiana State University and graduated from Centenary College of Louisiana in Shreveport. She moved to Arlington in 1956.
Survivors include her husband of 53 years, Frank L. Reynolds of Arlington; three children, Kevin Reynolds of Oakton, Scott Reynolds of Alexandria and Lt. Col. Elizabeth Agather of Raleigh, N.C.; and four grandchildren.
Elizabeth 'Betty' RolandChurch SecretaryElizabeth "Betty" Roland, 89, former secretary at St. James Catholic Church in Falls Church, died of congestive heart failure May 17 at The Jefferson, an Arlington retirement community where she had lived since last year.
Mrs. Roland, who was born in Croghan, N.Y., came to Washington in the 1930s and graduated from the Washington School for Secretaries. She worked for the Bureau of the Budget from 1936 to 1946.
She later spent 25 years as the secretary at St. James, where she was a member, until retiring in 1992. She lived in Falls Church from 1950 to 2005.
Her husband of 35 years, Robert J. Roland, died in 1981. A son, David Roland, died in 1997.
Survivors include three sons, Joseph Roland of Lockport, N.Y., Michael Roland of Burke and Paul Roland of Falls Church; nine grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.
Elbert Mack SleekerArmy Officer, Real Estate BrokerElbert Mack Sleeker, 91, a retired Army colonel and a World War II veteran, died of a stroke May 13 at Anne Arundel Medical Center in Annapolis. An Annapolis resident, he formerly lived in Annandale and Arlington.
Col. Sleeker, known as "Sleek," was born in Eudora, Ark., and received a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, Ark., in 1936. He joined the Army that year and served during World War II with the 16th Armored Division in the European theater. From 1947 to 1950, he served under Gen. Douglas MacArthur as part of the U.S. occupation of Japan.
He also served as battalion commander for the 101st Airborne Division, as adviser to the Royal Iranian Gendarmerie in Tehran, as chief of staff for the Third Armored Division in Germany and as commander of the U.S. Seventh Army Training Center, also in Germany. From 1963 to 1967, he was executive officer to the comptroller of the Army. He retired in 1970 as chief of staff for the Military District of Washington.
Col. Sleeker's decorations included the Distinguished Service Medal, awarded for maintaining civil order in the District during the 1967 anti-war march on the Pentagon; the Legion of Merit; and the Bronze Star.
From 1971 to 1982, he was a commercial real estate broker with projects in the District. After his second retirement, he enjoyed traveling to Hong Kong, Singapore, Bangkok, the Caribbean, Central America and South America. He also was an ardent Redskins fan.
Survivors include his wife of 65 years, Elizabeth Sleeker of Annapolis; two children, Christi Granger of Edgewater and Robert Sleeker of Denver; five grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.
John Pearce StirnWriter, Foreign Service OfficerJohn Pearce Stirn, 70, of Arlington, a writer and Foreign Service officer, died of congestive heart failure May 15 at Virginia Hospital Center. He had multiple myeloma for 23 years.
Mr. Stirn was born in Delphos, Ohio, and grew up in Kentucky. He graduated from the University of Florida with a degree in journalism. After serving in the Marine Corps, he worked at several Florida newspapers and at United Press International's Miami bureau.
In 1967, he joined the U.S. Information Agency as a writer-editor. Ten years later, he was commissioned as a Foreign Service officer and served as a publications officer in Lagos, Nigeria, and in Tokyo. At the time of his retirement in 1986, he was chief of the East Asia and Pacific Division of the USIA's press and publication service.
His marriage to Shirley Simpson ended in divorce.
Survivors include his wife of 31 years, Susan Flynt Stirn of Arlington; four children from his first marriage, Michael Stirn of Fredericksburg, William Stirn of Richmond, Katrina Stirn of Arlington and Jean Renoll of Springfield; and three grandchildren.
Henderika Elizabeth ThrasherForeign Service SpouseHenderika Elizabeth Thrasher, 86, a Foreign Service spouse, homemaker and club member, died of lung cancer May 15 at Fairfax Nursing Center, where she lived.
As the wife of a Foreign Service officer, Mrs. Thrasher lived around the world and learned to entertain in Israel, Laos, Switzerland, Canada and the Philippines. She was a native of Pretoria, South Africa, and met the American who would become her husband while he worked at the U.S. Embassy there. They moved to Washington in the early 1940s.
Mrs. Thrasher was a member of Kenwood Country Club and an accomplished tennis player, once serving as president of the inter-club tennis league. She enjoyed neighborhood book clubs and having tea with friends.
Her husband of 56 years, Edward J. Thrasher, died in 1999.
Survivors include a daughter, Karen Clark of Spotsylvania; a sister; three grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.
Arthur Byron WellsCivil Aeronautics Board Official
Arthur Byron Wells, 89, a former official with the Civil Aeronautics Board, died of a heart attack May 15 at his home in Silver Spring.
Mr. Wells was born in Washington and graduated from the former Western High School in 1935. After graduating from Harvard University in 1939, he worked at Riggs Bank for several years.
During World War II, he served with the Army in Europe. After returning to Washington, he worked as an accountant for Washington's old Capital Airlines from 1946 to 1961.
He joined the Civil Aeronautics Board, now part of the Federal Aviation Administration, in 1961 as an air transport examiner. He later worked as an economist with the board and was chief of the routes authority when he retired in 1982. He then was a consultant for several years.
Mr. Wells enjoyed baseball and football and collected jazz and big band records. He also had an interest in airline schedules and streetcars.
Survivors include his wife of 59 years, Kathryn Loveless Wells of Silver Spring; and two children, Michael R. Wells of Chevy Chase and Linda J. Gould of Silver Spring.