Obituaries

Mrs. Blackwelder was born in Alexandria and graduated from George Washington High School and Strayer College. She worked as a secretary in the banking and real estate industries before devoting herself full time to her family.

Her marriage to Leroy Blackwelder ended in divorce. A son, James Blackwelder, died in 2005.

Survivors include two children, Bettie Cox of Haleiwa in Oahu, Hawaii, and William Blackwelder of Alexandria; two grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.

Maurice F. BresnahanActing Deputy Commissioner

Maurice F. Bresnahan, 89, who retired as acting deputy commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, died Oct. 29 at Brighton Gardens in Richmond. He had Alzheimer's disease.

Mr. Bresnahan, nicknamed Budd, was born in Washington. He graduated from McKinley High School and Wilson Teachers College, where he was editor of the school newspaper at both.

He was a sergeant in the 8th Armored Division of the Army and served as radio operator in the European theater during World War II.

After the war, Mr. Bresnahan, who had trained as a geography teacher, began working for the federal government in the Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics. He served there 42 years, rising to acting deputy commissioner. He retired in 1979.

Mr. Bresnahan was active in several groups, including the Knights of Columbus, Falls Church Democratic Society (where he was a chief poll worker), Catholic Charities and the Catholic War Veterans. He also was a founding member of the Espionage Society. He was a member of the St. James Catholic Church in Falls Church, where he served as lector, eucharistic minister and usher.

A Falls Church resident for the past 50 years, Mr. Bresnahan and his wife moved to the Richmond area two months ago.

Survivors include his wife, Nancy F. Bresnahan, whom he married in 1937, of Richmond; four children, Timothy Bresnahan of Stanford, Calif., Mary Kate Hohmann of Mechanicsville, Tess Bresnahan of Leesburg and Bea Cracknell of Richmond; and five grandchildren.

Willa Love Galyon AmesMiddle School Teacher

Willa Love Galyon Ames, 100, a botanist and science teacher who retired from Walt Whitman Middle School in Alexandria, died Oct. 26 of congestive heart failure at Westminster at Lake Ridge retirement center, where she lived.

Mrs. Ames taught at Walt Whitman from 1953 to 1971. She and her husband also helped reopen the Presbyterian Meeting House in Alexandria.

A native of Knoxville, Tenn., she received a bachelor's degree and a master's degree in botany (1927) from the University of Tennessee.

She was active in the Kate Waller Barrett Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, Daughters of 1812, Colonial Dames and the Huguenot Society.

Her husband, Lawrence Ames, died in 1965.

Survivors include three children, Lawrence Ames of Glen Ivy, Calif., Richard Ames of Lincoln, Calif., and Althea Ames Schottman of Arlington; and three grandchildren.