Thursday, May 25, 2006
Thomas H. HutchinsonNavy Commander
Thomas Harvey Hutchinson, 86, a retired Navy commander, died of a blood disorder May 20 at Calvert Memorial Hospital in Prince Frederick. He lived in Solomons.
Cmdr. Hutchinson was born in Washington and was a member of the first graduating class at Anacostia High School in 1938. A standout athlete in football and baseball, he attended George Washington University on a football scholarship. Before graduating, he enlisted in the Navy's V-5 flight program in December 1941.
After becoming an aviator, he served in the South Pacific with a dive-bombing squadron in support of Marines at Guadalcanal, Bougainville and Japanese strongholds in nearby islands. After a year in combat, he was assigned to be a flight instructor at Pearl Harbor. He later was assigned to a fighter squadron to prepare for a second tour of combat in the North Pacific.
During the Korean War, Cmdr. Hutchinson was staff officer aboard the aircraft carrier USS Wright in the Yellow Sea. During the Vietnam War, he was officer in charge of the 7th Fleet detachment supporting Yankee Station carrier operations. In 1965, he survived a catapult accident off the USS Independence and returned to the United States after several months of rehabilitation in the Philippines. He retired from active duty in 1967.
The following year, Cmdr. Hutchinson went to work at the Pentagon as a civilian, serving for the next 14 years as the Navy representative to the joint chiefs of staff for special operations.
He finished his college degree at George Washington in 1973. He also graduated from the Navy Postgraduate School and the Naval War College. He was a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Military Officers Association of America and Disabled American Veterans.
Among his awards were the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Bronze Star, eight awards of the Air Medal and the Navy Commendation Medal.
Survivors include his wife of 63 years, Mary Ann Dinn Hutchinson of Solomons; three children, Maureen Witt of Bowie, Thomas H. Hutchinson of Las Cruces, N.M., and Susan Menna of Waldorf; and five grandchildren.
Helene Loren WalkerFoundation Executive
Helene Loren Walker, 70, board chair and past president of the Kentland Foundation and a real estate broker, died of cancer May 21 at her home in Leesburg.
Ms. Walker worked for the Berryville-based foundation, one of Virginia's top 50 foundations as measured by the size of its assets, from its formation in 1970 until her death. She was its secretary-treasurer from 1970 to 1994.
Born in Hamburg, she was raised in Washington and graduated from Western High School. She attended American University and graduated from what is now Trinity University in Washington, a member of its first class in the education for parish services program.
She worked in real estate, first for Dravillas & Co. in the District, then as founding broker of Walker & Co. in Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia. She was instrumental in the establishment of the Kentland Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded by Otis Beall Kent, a Gaithersburg tax lawyer and conservationist.
In 1976, Ms. Walker moved to Gaithersburg, where she became a member of St. Martin of Tours Catholic Church and volunteered for parish activities, became parish council president, and supported Catholic education and the anti-abortion movement. She served on the board of the school, Shady Grove Pregnancy Center and the EPS Foundation. She was a member of the Cardinal's Appeal of the Washington Archdiocese. She also enjoyed world travel, including numerous pilgrimages to the Holy Land and Rome.
Her marriages to Thomas O'Neill and Leo J. Walker ended in divorce.
Survivors include a daughter from her first marriage, Sheila O'Neill Stedman of North Potomac; six children from her second marriage, Juliana MacDowell of Hamilton, Va., Jack Walker of Ashburn, Lexie Hoffman of Middleburg, Billy Walker of Potomac Falls, Helene McCarron of Leesburg and Celeste Walker of Washington; a brother, William Loren of Berryville; and 12 grandchildren.
Marie Mayo TravisFilm Studies ProfessorMarie Mayo Travis, 65, a film studies professor who taught at George Washington University for 20 years until 1984, died of breast cancer May 19 at her home in Bowie.
Among the courses Mrs. Travis taught at George Washington were film history, political image in film, language in cinema and women in film. She also gave presentations in conferences held by the Oscar Micheaux Film Society and the Smithsonian Institution.
She was a member of the Washington area chapter of Women in Film & Television.
Born in Bath, N.C., Mrs. Travis grew up the daughter of a career military officer. She spent her formative years in Germany after World War II. She spoke German, Russian and Spanish.
Mrs. Travis, a Washington area resident since the 1960s, was a graduate of the University of Maryland, where she also received a master's degree in fine arts in 1983.
In the 1970s, she worked in Prince George's County schools as a special education teacher. From 1997 to 2001, she worked part time as a consultant in film studies and as a sixth-grade English teacher at Queen Anne School in Upper Marlboro.
Her hobbies included collecting Japanese art and training and riding show horses.
Her marriage to Richard Seidler ended in divorce.
Survivors include her husband of 27 years, John W. Travis of Bowie; a son from her second marriage, Gregory M. Travis of Washington; and a sister, Sylvia Lane Hendricks of Sharpsburg, Md.
Al JamesVOA HostAl James, 77, former editor and host of "Daybreak Africa" for Voice of America's English to Africa Service, died of cancer May 2 at Shady Grove Adventist Hospital. He was a resident of Rockville.
After moving to the Washington area in 1984, Mr. James began working as a newscaster and engineer in VOA's central newsroom. Four years later, he started hosting "Daybreak Africa," a daily news show that included weather forecasts for 23 African cities. He retired in 2003.
In 1991, a Cameroon fan club ranked him No. 1 over European announcers.
A native of Cleveland, Mr. James began his broadcasting career there. In the 1960s and 1970s, he worked as an announcer for radio stations that played middle-of-the road contemporary, soft and big-band music.
In 1964, he worked at the station that sponsored the Beatles concert to Cleveland. He appeared onstage with his fellow disc jockeys, introducing the band to thousands of screaming fans.
Mr. James also did freelance voice-overs and appeared in local and national television commercials and industrial films.
Survivors include his wife of 54 years, Bernadette James of Rockville; and two daughters, Susan James of Derwood and Patricia Briggs of Rockville.
Charles H. MauvaisPOW, Sales ManagerCharles H. Mauvais, 86, a former World War II prisoner of war and office equipment sales manager, died May 16 of a cerebral hemorrhage at Shady Grove Adventist Hospital. He was a resident of Bethesda for 40 years.
Mr. Mauvais worked in management for Monroe Systems, a division of Litton Industries in Boise, Idaho, Denver, San Francisco, and Washington, before retiring in 1980. He then worked in commercial real estate for four years.
He was born in Gooding, Idaho, and attended Boise Business College. During World War II, he was a navigator in the Army Air Forces on a B-17 and a member of the 8th Air Force, 100th Bomb group, 350th Bomb Squadron in England. He was shot down on his 25th mission over Berlin, captured and taken as a prisoner of war by the Germans in May 1944.
He was held most of the time in Stalag Luft III, until being liberated in April 1945 by Gen. George S. Patton and the American troops. An Air Force captain at discharge, he was awarded a Purple Heart and Air Medal with three clusters.
Mr. Mauvais was a member of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Bethesda.
Survivors include his wife, Maureen Mauvais, whom he married in 1949, of Bethesda; two children, Jeffry Mauvais of Wilmington, Del., and Mary Jo Sollway of North Bethesda; and two grandchildren.
Richard Michael GalloProperty ManagerRichard Michael Gallo, 48, a property manager and former real estate agent, died May 8 of heart disease at his home in Falls Church.
Mr. Gallo was born in Takoma Park, grew up in Silver Spring and graduated from Our Lady of Good Counsel High School in Wheaton. He attended Montgomery College and graduated from the University of Maryland. While studying at Maryland, he volunteered at a day-care center. He received a master's degree in public administration from the University of Houston in 1982.
Mr. Gallo began his career as a real estate agent with the Flaherty Group Inc. in Kensington in 1983 and worked with Long and Foster in Kensington from the mid-1980s to 1996. He was site office manager with Spring Lake condominium in Bethesda from 1996 to 2002.
He was assistant property manager for TRC Cos. Inc., managing tenant relations, budgets and other matters for commercial buildings at Tysons Corner, from 2002 to 2004. He was property manager for a commercial building owned by Prentiss Properties in Falls Church from 2004 to 2005.
Survivors include his wife of seven years, Katherine R. Gallo of Falls Church; two children, Michael Gallo and Lina Gallo, both of Falls Church; his mother, Anna Gallo of Silver Spring; a brother, John M. Gallo of Silver Spring; and a sister, Rita A. Gallo of Pembroke Pines, Fla.
Elsa WadsworthResearcherElsa Wadsworth, 82, a researcher in the department of microbiology and immunology at Georgetown University for 16 years, died of cancer May 16 at Capital Hospice in Arlington. She lived in Washington.
Dr. Wadsworth was born in Olomouc, Czechoslovakia, and finished her schooling in Prague during the Nazi occupation. She was later forced to work in a munitions factory. She completed her PhD at Charles University in Prague, when it was under the Soviet domination of Czechoslovakia. She was allowed to work in her field, but because she refused to comply with Communist Party doctrine, she was not granted her PhD until 1972.
She was a research fellow at the University of Goteborg, Sweden, before becoming a visiting scientist at George Washington University in 1974. She was a supervising microbiologist in Borstel, West Germany, and from 1977 to 1979, she was a research associate at Goteborg.
In 1980, Dr. Wadsworth became a postdoctoral fellow in the department of microbiology a Georgetown University, and in 1984 she became a research associate. She published papers over the years in various professional scientific journals. She retired in 1997.
Outside of her work, Dr. Wadsworth spent time helping others. She cooked dinner for an invalid friend nearly every Friday evening for years. She also volunteered to deliver Meals on Wheels and contributed to countless charities.
She was a member of St. Ann's Parish in Washington.
Her husband, Charles Wadsworth, died in 1994.
There are no immediate survivors.
Alexander K. TyreeSubmarine CommanderAlexander K. Tyree, 90, a World War II submarine commander who became a math professor at the University of Mary Washington, died of lung cancer May 10 at Shell Point Retirement Community in Fort Myers, Fla. He was a former Fredericksburg resident.
Capt. Tyree was born in Page, W.Va., and grew up in Danville, Va. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1936 and served on the cruiser USS Salt Lake City from 1936 to 1939.
One of the youngest submarine commanders in the Navy during World War II, he commanded three submarines, including the USS Bowfin. The Bowfin was one of nine submarines -- known collectively as "The Hellcats" -- that successfully navigated through the almost impenetrable minefields of the Tsushima Strait. The subs severed Japan's last lifeline with the Asian mainland by destroying what was left of its merchant fleet.
For his achievement, Capt. Tyree was awarded his second Navy Cross. The Bowfin is a national historic landmark at Pearl Harbor.
After his 30-year career in the Navy, which included several duty assignments in Washington, he settled in Fredericksburg and received a master's degree in math education from Duke University in 1967. He taught math at what was then Mary Washington College from 1967 to 1979.
His first wife, Susan Tyree, died in 1984. His second wife, Gloria Tyree, died in 2001.
Survivors include his wife of three years, Ethel "Willi" Tyree of Fort Myers; three children from his first marriage, Nancy Fee of Basye, Va., Rosa Lee Glass of Camden, Maine, and Alexander K. Tyree Jr. of Fargo, N.D.; a brother; a sister; three grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.
Daniel S. BishoppCommercial Real Estate BrokerDaniel Spencer Bishopp, 57, a broker whose Bishopp Realty Inc. specialized in industrial and commercial real estate in the Washington area, died May 21 at his home in Reston. He had a brain tumor.
Mr. Bishopp and his wife formed Bishopp Realty in 1988. He also briefly co-owned Bishopp Management Inc., a commercial property management service.
The son of a Marine Corps officer, Mr. Bishopp was born on Guam and raised in Northern Virginia. He was a graduate of Fort Hunt High School in Alexandria and Virginia Tech.
He began his real estate career with Weaver Bros. Inc. and later was chief real estate officer at GT Realty, where he oversaw the leasing and management of almost 3 million square feet of industrial and office space.
He was a former president of the Baltimore/Washington chapter of the Society of Industrial and Office Realtors; the Northern Virginia chapter of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties; and the Committee for Dulles, a business group.
He enjoyed golfing.
Survivors include his wife, Debra Ranize Bishopp, whom he married in 1969, of Reston; two children, Scott S. Bishopp of Ashburn and Lauren A. Pool of Tucson; his mother, Estelle Bishopp of Springfield; a brother, Fred T. Bishopp Jr. of Round Hill, Va.; two sisters, Carolyn Smith of Atlanta and Virginia Rowen of Leesburg; and a granddaughter.
Alan LedermanEconomist, VolunteerAlan Lederman, 83, a former economist with the Army who volunteered with several organizations, died May 21 at Inova Fairfax Hospital of complications from spinal surgery. He lived in Alexandria.
Mr. Lederman was born in New York and interrupted his studies at Cornell University to serve in the Army during World War II. After the war, he graduated from Cornell and worked briefly for the state of New York before moving to Washington in the late 1940s to join the Army Materiel Command.
He spent his entire career with the command as an economist, including eight years when he was assigned to the missile program at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Ala. He retired in 1987.
After the death of his wife of 38 years, Eve Lederman, in 1987, Mr. Lederman became a volunteer with and later president of the Northern Virginia chapter of the Alzheimer's Association.
Mr. Lederman enjoyed classical music, opera and ballet and volunteered with the Washington National Opera and Opera America Inc. in Washington. In recent years, he had traveled to Southeast Asia, the South Pacific, Europe, Australia, Central America and several Caribbean islands.
Survivors include his companion, Judy Rosen of Alexandria; two children from his marriage, Elaine Lederman of Strasburg, Va., and Andrew Lederman of Alpharetta, Ga.; and three granddaughters.
Robert Scott HartmanComputer ProgrammerRobert Scott "Bob Miracle" Hartman, 43, a former computer programmer, died of respiratory failure May 16 at Loudoun Hospital in Leesburg. He lived in Ashburn.
Mr. Hartman, an ordained deacon at Centreville Presbyterian Church, acquired his nickname for his unwavering religious faith and irrepressible humor in the face of adversity, his family said. He could mimic most voices and used this talent to the delight of the congregation during children's sermons, while emceeing church dinners and whenever needed to lift the spirits of others.
Mr. Hartman was born in Boston, spent his childhood in Exeter, N.H., and moved to Vienna during his teen years. He graduated from James Madison High School and Northern Virginia Community College. He attended George Mason University and co-founded a computer business.
He worked as a contractor for CACI International Inc. and NEC America in the 1980s and 1990s until he was disabled by lung disease.
Survivors include his wife of 13 years, Jean Troup Hartman of Ashburn; his mother, Rosemary Hartman of Annandale; his father, Gerald Hartman of Sun Prairie, Wis.; and two sisters, Robin Nixon of Gainesville and Laura Hartman of Herndon.