Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Eva Milagros Jamias CarrHomemaker, Volunteer
Eva Milagros Jamias Carr, 72, a homemaker with an interest in politics and world affairs, died Nov. 25 of a heart attack at Sibley Memorial Hospital. She was a longtime resident of the District.
Mrs. Carr, known as Mila, was born in Manila and grew up under the Japanese occupation during World War II. She recalled how her family struggled to keep food on the table during the war, an experience that brought on a lifelong aversion to squash, coconut milk and snails.
She received her undergraduate degree in foreign affairs from the University of the Philippines in 1953 and worked for some years at the Philippine National Intelligence Coordinating Agency. She moved to the Washington area in 1958 to pursue a master's degree in international relations at Georgetown University, which she received in 1962.
She worked part time at the headquarters of the Phi Beta Kappa Society while attending Georgetown and for a couple of years in the mid-1980s at Trinity College. But she devoted most of her life in Washington to raising her five children and participating in school activities. She volunteered in the libraries, as "lunch mother" and occasionally as an emergency substitute teacher. For many years, she was a member of a small group that met to sew for charity.
After her children were grown, she was active in the Bible study group of Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in the District and in the Woman's Club of Chevy Chase. She was passionately interested in politics and world affairs and loved good food, history, reading and crossword puzzles.
Survivors include her husband of 44 years, Robert F. Carr of the District; five children, Michael Carr of the District, Christopher Carr of Mason Neck, Maria Cristina "Tina" Carr of Silver Spring, Robert V. Carr of Silver Spring and Sarah Carr of Alexandria; a sister; and 11 grandchildren.
Marian Hilda Claassen FranzDirector of Nonprofit GroupMarian Hilda Claassen Franz, 76, former director of a nonprofit organization that for many years lobbied Congress to pass a law allowing taxes to be directed to nonmilitary uses, died of cancer Nov. 17 at her home in Washington.
For the past 24 years, Mrs. Franz was director of the National Campaign for a Peace Tax Fund in Washington. The fund would allow people who are conscientiously opposed to war to pay all of their tax obligations without having their money used to fund military force.
"It is a way to protect the religious freedom and the rights of conscience of that minority of taxpayers whose religious and moral principles forbid their participation in war in any form," Mrs. Franz once wrote.
She spoke frequently on conscientious objection, taking regular trips to international conferences in Europe and testifying before the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in New York.
Mrs. Franz was one of the founders of Conscience and Peace Tax International, which works through international movements and institutions such as the United Nations and the European Union to obtain recognition of conscientious objection to paying for armaments and war.
At the time of her death, she was the organization's international chairwoman. She was scheduled to chair the international conference in Berlin in October but was unable to because of health problems.
She also was a founder and board member of the Faith and Politics Institute in Washington.
Mrs. Franz, who had lived in Washington since 1968, was born in Newton, Kan. She graduated with a degree in social sciences and religion from Bethel College in Newton, and in 1957, she graduated magna cum laude with a master's degree in religious education from Mennonite Biblical Seminary in Elkhart, Ind.
In the 1950s, Mrs. Franz and her husband, Delton, began an inter-racial Mennonite church. They were active in the civil rights movement and coordinated rallies and speaking engagements with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
In the 1950s and '60s, Mrs. Franz worked for the Church Federation of Greater Chicago and became director of a religious education program.
In 1971, she helped found Dunamis, a Christian advocacy organization. She also served as the organization's first director.
"Marian was a tireless voice for religious freedom and the rights of people of conscience," Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) said in a statement. "Her energy and persistence in advocating for the Religious Freedom Peace Tax Fund was a reflection of her deep commitment to our democracy and to the cause of peace."
She was a member of Hyattsville Mennonite Church.
Her husband of 52 years, Delton Franz, died in March.
Survivors include three children, Gregory Franz of Los Angeles, Gayle Franz of Newton and Coretta Franz-Eby of Lancaster, Pa.; and two grandchildren.
Merle MasonSystems AnalystMerle Jeanne Halverson Mason, 84, who worked for the U.S. Treasury Department for nearly 50 years, died Nov. 14 at her home in Gainesville, where she had lived for a month. She had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Mrs. Mason, a resident of Arlington County for more than 40 years, began working for the federal government with the War Department in 1942. She transferred to the Bureau of Accounts in 1948 and finally into the Financial Management Service, where she was a systems accountant and then a consultant. She worked under 10 presidents before retiring in 1996.
She received numerous awards for new ideas and programs that saved the government and the public millions of dollars, her family said.
Upon her retirement, Gerald Murphy, the fiscal assistant secretary, wrote, "Your record of devoted service, achievements and contributions to "FMS" (previously known as "The Bureau") will leave an indelible mark for this generation."
Mrs. Mason was born in Black River Falls, Wis., where she attended a one-room schoolhouse in nearby Irving, Wis., close to her father's general store.
She attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison, majoring in accounting and studying music and the viola. She married and moved to Washington in 1947. She lived in Georgetown for 10 years before moving to Arlington.
In her later years, she enjoyed traveling, especially to Norway and the Holy Land. She was a member of Georgetown Lutheran Church for more than 50 years and was active in the Sons of Norway and the American Legion.
Her husband, Ronald Earl Mason, died in 1974. A daughter, Kristine Kyle, died in 2002.
Survivors include six children, Gail Myers of Crookston, Minn., Linda Phillips and Nancy Reid, both of Broad Run, Dean Mason of Bloomington, Minn., Ronald Mason of Alexandria and Rick Mason of Arlington; a sister; 10 grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.