Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Ernest Leroy Burdge Jr.Defense Intelligence Analyst
Ernest Leroy Burdge Jr., 90, an Air Force pilot and Defense Department intelligence analyst, died of complications of prostate cancer Aug. 31 at Howard County General Hospital. He lived in Columbia.
Mr. Burdge, a native of Minneapolis, served in the Army Air Forces during World War II, flying 30 missions in a B-17 bomber and 40 missions in a P-51 fighter in 1944 alone. He received three Distinguished Flying Crosses for his wartime service and participated in the Berlin Airlift after the war.
He remained in the Air Force until 1963, serving in England, France, Germany and Libya and at numerous posts in the United States. He retired in 1963.
Mr. Burdge moved to Laurel and worked as an intelligence analyst for the Defense Department until 1980, when he retired again. He moved to Columbia in 2002.
He was a member of the Gunpowder Golf Club and the Elks Club.
His wife of 53 years, Mary Jane Hasler Burdge, died in 1998.
Survivors include four children, Geoffrey Burdge of Merritt Island, Fla., Ernest Burdge of Churchville, Pa., Stephanie Diamond of Redding, Calif., and Melissa Garbowitz of Encino, Calif.; a sister; and four grandchildren.
John I. Connolly Jr.PhysicistJohn I. Connolly Jr., 70, a Burke physicist, died Aug. 29 at Woodbine Rehabilitation Center in Alexandria of complications of pneumonia, after brain surgery in February.
Mr. Connolly worked for 18 years for SAIC in Northern Virginia, starting with its high-energy laser program. He left in 1991 to operate his consulting firm, JDI Ltd.
He was born in Brighton, Mass., and graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He received a doctoral degree in physics from the University of Illinois in 1965. He was a Fulbright scholar in Madrid later that year and maintained a lifelong interest in the lands and languages of Spain and Italy.
Survivors include his wife, Diane Connolly, and a son, John I. Connolly III, both of Burke; a sister; two brothers; and a grandson.
Jonathan Walkley CummingsVA PsychologistJonathan Walkley Cummings, 80, a clinical psychologist and former chief of psychology at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Washington, died of cancer Sept. 21 at his home in Bethesda.
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 ConsultantNedja 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.
She enjoyed traveling.
Her husband died in 1973.
Survivors include her husband of 10 years, Converse West of Alexandria; two sons from her first marriage, Gerard D'Alessandro of Manassas and Mark D'Alessandro of Leesburg; and two grandchildren.
Loretta Kane LewisArlington LadyLoretta Kane Lewis, 96, one of the first Arlington Ladies at Arlington National Cemetery, died of a heart attack Sept. 12 at her home at Leisure World in Silver Spring.
As one of the volunteer Arlington Ladies, Mrs. Lewis represented military officials at funerals in the cemetery.
She was born in Oswego, N.Y., and after her marriage to a West Point graduate, she lived all over the United States. When her husband retired in 1962, the couple settled in Arlington. She had lived at Leisure World for the past 22 years.
Mrs. Lewis was the first president of the Business and Professional Women's Club of Oswego. She was a Red Cross Gray Lady for more than 20 years.
For many years, she was a volunteer with Meals on Wheels and at the FISH Desk at Leisure World, helping residents who needed wheelchairs or other support items. She was a past president of the Potomac Women's Club of Arlington and was a member of P.E.O., a women's service organization.
She was a member of Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church at Leisure World and had served as a Eucharist minister. She enjoyed playing bridge and traveling.
Her husband, Emory A. Lewis, died in 1983.
Survivors included two children, Cherie L. Linko of Arlington and E. Alexander Lewis Jr. of Falls Church; and four grandchildren.
Richard Arthur MicheelLawyerRichard Arthur Micheel, 85, a lawyer who practiced for many years in Washington, died Aug. 25 of congestive heart failure at Charlotte Hall Veterans Home in St. Mary's County. He had lived for many years in Bethesda and Potomac.
Mr. Micheel was born in Davenport, Iowa, and was a graduate of St. Ambrose University in his home town. As a Navy officer during World War II, he was a navigator on ships in the Pacific.
After the war, he moved to Washington and worked as a doorkeeper at the U.S. Capitol. He graduated from Georgetown University law school in 1951, then opened a general law practice, Micheel and Associates, in the District. He retired about 1990.
He enjoyed travel, skiing and golf and was an honorary life member of Congressional Country Club.
His wife of 45 years, Patricia S. Micheel, died in 1992.
Survivors include a daughter, Pam Tiernan of Harrisonburg, Va.; and five grandchildren.
Thomas Muse OrndorffBusinessmanThomas Muse Orndorff, 67, the founder of a company that represented other companies supplying the armed forces with marine equipment, died of lung cancer Sept. 20 at Inova Mount Vernon Hospital in Alexandria. He was an Alexandria resident.
Mr. Orndorff was born in the District and grew up in Alexandria, graduating from George Washington High School in 1957. He received an undergraduate degree in electrical engineering from the University of Virginia in 1961.
From 1961 to 1978, he was a project manager for construction companies and other businesses, briefly in Florida but mainly in Northern Virginia. In 1978, he founded Hemisphere Development Services Inc.; his wife was president, and he was executive vice president. The company serves as a liaison between the federal government and participating shipyards and marine-oriented companies.
An avid sailor on the Potomac, Mr. Orndorff was a member of the Fairfax Yacht Club in Occoquan. He spent his leisure hours in the summer working on his sailboat, Veleiro, and in the winter, he skied.
Survivors include his wife of 32 years, Jussara Orndorff of Alexandria; and two children, Andrew Orndorff of West Palm Beach, Fla., and Cristina Orndorff of Alexandria.
Michael Joseph Paduda Jr.LawyerMichael Joseph Paduda Jr., 60, a Washington native who was a well-known lawyer in Bogalusa, La., died of complications of lung cancer Sept. 8 at the University of Alabama Hospital in Birmingham.
Mr. Paduda grew up in the Fairlawn area of Southeast Washington and graduated from St. John's College High School.
He attended St. Bernard College in Cullman, Ala., graduated from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge and received his law degree from Loyola University Law School in New Orleans in 1971. He served in the Navy.
He was a longtime resident of Bogalusa. The Louisiana Supreme Court appointed him an interim city court judge in 1996.
Survivors include his wife, Mary Bush Paduda of Bogalusa; two children, Marcie Braswell of Birmingham and Michael J. Paduda III of Jackson, Miss.; three sisters, Mary Paduda of Upper Marlboro; Margaret Bates of Charlotte Hall and Patricia Farmer of Laurel; and a grandson.
Melvin ParkerPharmacistMelvin Parker, 81, a pharmacist who co-owned Val-Park Drugs in Northeast Washington through 1967, died of complications of dementia Sept. 21 at Anne Arundel Medical Center. He lived in Annapolis.
Mr. Parker was a native Baltimorean who enlisted in the Amy Air Forces during World War II. He became a pilot, one of the 992 men who graduated from pilot training at the Tuskegee Institute. He was a member of the famous 99th Fighter Squadron, but the war ended before he was sent overseas.
After the war, he returned to the Washington area and enrolled in school while working at the State Department. He graduated from Howard University's pharmacy school and with a classmate opened one of the first black-owned pharmacies in Washington. Mr. Parker sold his share in 1967 and moved to Annapolis, where he practiced pharmacy at several stores for 20 more years.
He was the Peninsula Athletic League's basketball chairman and coach and coached Amateur Athletic Union boys' basketball. He was also president of the Maryland state AAU for 10 years.
His first wife, Thelma Louise Parker, died in 1967. A son from that marriage, Melvin S. Parker, died in 2004.
Survivors include his wife, Nancy R. Patteson Parker of Annapolis; a son from his second marriage, Rick Parker of Washington; and a granddaughter.