Obituaries

Dr. Cummings led the VA's psychology division from 1962 to 1988 when he retired. He was past divisional president of the American Psychological Association, past president of the D.C. Psychological Association and past president of the Association of VA Chief Psychologists.

He was born in Bennington, Vt., and joined the Marine Corps in 1944. After his military service, he graduated from the University of Vermont as a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He received a doctoral degree in clinical psychology from the University of Illinois in 1954.

Dr. Cummings immediately went to work for the Veterans Administration hospital in Hines, Ill., then in Fargo, N.D., before moving to Bethesda, where he lived until his death.

Dr. Cummings was a frequent lecturer at area universities, both as an adjunct clinical professor of psychology at George Washington University and as a member of the Citizens Advisory Board for Montgomery College. He also contributed numerous articles to professional journals on his specialties.

After his retirement, Dr. Cummings volunteered on the VA hospital's institutional review board and other committees. He was active in the organization People to People International, traveling to China multiple times to lecture as part of cultural exchange delegations, and was a longtime treasurer of the group's Washington area chapter.

He also enjoyed golf and wrote "You and Your Handicap: The Arithmetic of Golf" (1995). He also was a lifelong fan of the Boston Red Sox.

His wife of 19 years, Mary Jane Meany Cummings, died in 1970.

Survivors include his companion of 20 years, Linda Bracket of Fairfax; three children, Jonathan Cummings II of Bethesda, Abigail Casciotti of Arlington and Scott Cummings of Charlotte; a brother; and five grandchildren.

Nedja R. D'Alessandro-WestMoving Consultant

Nedja R. D'Alessandro-West, 84, a retired consultant to several northern Virginia moving companies, died of respiratory failure Sept. 18 at Ruxton Health Care Center in Alexandria.

Mrs. D'Alessandro-West was born in Nova Gradiska, Yugoslavia, which is now part of Croatia. She worked with the Yugoslav resistance during World War II , when she met her husband, Joseph D'Alessandro, who was with the Office of Strategic Services, the precursor of the CIA, in Belgrade.

After the war, she continued to oppose the communist regime. As a result, she was charged with crimes against the government but escaped to the United States before being sentenced to 10 years in absentia. She was granted amnesty by the government in the 1980s and was allowed to return to visit family.

The couple lived first in Boston, then settled in the Washington area with CIA postings in Okinawa and Vietnam over the years. She worked as a recruitment specialist and consultant for several moving companies, including Security Storage Corp., until retiring in 1992.