Obituaries

When the United States entered World War II, he was assigned to the only aircraft carrier in the Atlantic at the time, the Norfolk-based USS Ranger. Shortly after, he was assigned to the carrier USS Essex in the Pacific, where he served as the senior landing signal officer from 1942 to 1944. He received the Legion of Merit with Combat V for "extraordinary skill" in landing countless planes, including more than 50 battle-damaged planes. He also received a Bronze Star with Combat V and the Presidential Unit Citation for training carrier-based pilots and landing signal officers during the final year of the war.

During the Korean War, he served as air officer on the carrier USS Princeton and was also commander of Carrier Air Group 7. He attended the National War College in 1959 and in 1962 served as commanding officer of the USS Mount Katmai, an ammunition ship, and the USS Oriskany, an aircraft carrier.

Capt. Iarrobino moved with his family to Falls Church in 1956 and was active in St. Anthony of Padua parish. He worked at the Pentagon in long-ranging planning during the last few years of his military career and retired in 1970.

In retirement, he spent part of every year in Ireland, where he owned a home near Athlone on the River Shannon. He also enjoyed attending Boston Red Sox games and Boston College sporting events.

His wife, Jessie Bourneuf Iarrobino, died in 1980. A son, Robert Brian Iarrobino, died in 1998.

Survivors include two children, Charles Iarrobino Jr. of Santa Fe, N.M., and Anne Barter of Bethesda; two sisters, Mary Balzarini of Dedham, Mass., and Nancy Wischnowski of Washington; a brother, Joseph Iarrobino of Valyermo, Calif.; and two grandchildren.

Alva B. Bundren Jr.Army Lieutenant Colonel

Alva Bartlett Bundren Jr., 74, a retired Army lieutenant colonel and systems analyst for defense contractors, died Oct. 9 at Capital Hospice in Arlington. He had complications from liver disease.

Col. Bundren was a native of Knoxville, Tenn., and a 1955 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. He became an Army Ranger and served two tours of duty in the Vietnam War.

His final active-duty assignment, in 1979, was for the Joint Chiefs of Staff as a specialist in troop training and development. His decorations included two awards of the Bronze Star.

In the 1980s and 1990s, he was a planner and systems analyst for defense contractors BDM, Mitre Corp. and Titan Corp.

He spent the past decade as a volunteer at Oakton Elementary School, where he helped first-graders with remedial reading. He was a former board member and vice president of the Towlston Meadows Civic Association in Vienna, his place of residence.

He was a Mason and Shriner and a member of a local group concerned with slowing traffic and growth in Tysons Corner. He also was a longtime Washington Redskins season ticket holder.