Obituaries

In 1939, he returned to study in his native city but in 1942 was arrested by the Stalin regime, sentenced to a labor camp and sent to the Finnish front, where he was captured by the Finns. Because of his German name, he was handed over to the Germans, where he was drafted into the German army.

After World War II, he left Europe and moved to New York and then Monterey, Calif. He became a master sergeant in the Army Reserves and began teaching Russian at the Army Language School (now the Defense Language Institute) in Monterey. He also was put in charge of daily Russian-language news broadcasts. He moved to the Washington area in 1958, working briefly for the Voice of America before joining the USIA.

Apart from work, he enjoyed researching his genealogy at the Library of Congress and reading Russian history and works of world culture and religion. He also enjoyed overseas travel and growing vegetables and herbs at his home in Kensington.

Survivors include his wife of 60 years, Olga Lindes of Kensington; two children, Nina Willett of Ocean Pines, Md., and Hal Lindes, a guitarist in the rock group Dire Straits, of Los Angeles; and seven grandchildren.

Mitzi RappTown Gardener

Mitzi Rapp, 79, who helped maintain the town of Garrett Park as an arboretum, died of renal failure Oct. 11 at her home in Garrett Park.

Mrs. Rapp was among a number of people who kept the Montgomery County town shady and well preserved, said Barbara Shidler, the chairman of the committee that launched the arboretum in 1978.

"She and I grew little [tree] seedlings in our yards until they were big enough to go on the street," Shidler said. "It was a lot of work. We read catalogues for plants that we couldn't get from nurseries. She was a keen gardener" who found a sunny spot for a vegetable garden, in addition to shade-loving plants such as dwarf evergreens and hostas. She also grew flowering plants such as rhododendrons and azaleas and built a small pool in her yard, Shidler said. The pair briefly set themselves up in business as the Over the Hill Landscapers, but "we weren't challenging any professionals," Shidler said.

Born in Baltimore, Mrs. Rapp attended the former Mount St. Agnes College, now part of Loyola College in Maryland. She worked as an X-ray technician at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Decades later, after raising her children, she graduated from the University of Maryland with honors.

She was past president of the Mason Dixon English Cocker Spaniel Club and received numerous awards for rescuing dogs and for her commitment to animal welfare.

Her husband, Herbert J. Rapp, died in 1981.

Survivors include four children, Barbara Roberts of Oneonta, N.Y., Margaret Soltan and Brian Rapp, both of Garrett Park, and Frances Eby of Gaithersburg; a sister, Ronnie Loiederman of Bethesda; and three grandchildren.