Henry Harper; Suit Overturned Va. Pension Tax

Allen won the election, and in 1994 Virginia's General Assembly -- which once mocked Dr. Harper's case -- approved a $340 million refund to 186,000 retired federal workers. The amount equaled about 75 percent of the taxes they had paid, for an average of $2,530 a person.

Still, about 14,000 federal workers, including Dr. Harper, held out for full reimbursement, including interest. In 1995, they prevailed in the Virginia Supreme Court, which unanimously ruled that the 14,000 retirees were owed $78 million, or more than $5,500 each.

"It's a victory, frankly, for all the taxpayers in the United States," Dr. Harper said.

Henry Winston Harper III was born in St. Louis and raised in New Orleans. He graduated from the University of Illinois and received a doctorate in veterinary science from Michigan State University in the 1940s and a master's degree in public administration from American University in the 1980s.

He was a veterinarian in Michigan, Indiana and Texas before becoming a livestock inspector in Mexico and a public health veterinarian in Panama. He was a meat inspector in Fort Worth and Omaha before taking his position with USDA in Washington.

Dr. Harper had a deep knowledge of biblical studies and theology and was a member of Cherrydale United Methodist Church in Arlington.

His marriage to Ruby Harper ended in divorce.

His second wife, Edith Harper, died in 2002.

Survivors include two children from his first marriage, Henry Winston Harper IV of Milford, Mich., and Marie Canine of Orlando; and three grandchildren.

During his nine-year battle for tax equality, Dr. Harper worked almost full time on his case, filling two rooms of his Arlington home with documents. He said he may have inherited his tenacity from an ancestor, Virginia patriot Patrick Henry.