Obituaries

James R. GosnellBuilder, Real Estate Agent

James Robert Gosnell, 90, a businessman who worked in commercial real estate in Arlington, died Jan. 17 at his home in Middleburg following a stroke.

Mr. Gosnell, known to family and friends as Jimmy, was born in Washington and grew up in Arlington. After graduating from Washington-Lee High School in 1934, he began a business as a contractor in housing construction and built single- and multiple-family dwellings in Arlington.

He joined the Army during World War II and served as a staff sergeant in the 115th Infantry, 29th Division (Blue & Gray), traveling mostly on foot from Brest, France, in September 1944 to the meeting of U.S. and Russian troops in Germany at the Elbe River in May 1945. He returned from occupied Germany in January 1946.

After the war, Mr. Gosnell worked again in construction. In the late 1950s, he joined with his father and brother to form Fred A. Gosnell & Sons Realtors and worked in commercial real estate at their office on Wilson Boulevard in Arlington. Mr. Gosnell retired in the late 1980s.

His wife of 42 years, Pauline Wyant Gosnell, died in 1980. A daughter from that marriage, Lynda Lee Stevens, died in 1996.

Mr. Gosnell was a member of Mount Olivet Methodist Church in Arlington from 1940 to 1990. He was past president of Washington Golf & Country Club. He served on the board of directors for Arlington Trust Co. and later First American Bank of Virginia, and on the board of the Salvation Army of Arlington.

He was active on several committees and solicited contributions for the improvement of Arlington Hospital.

A longtime Arlington resident, he moved to Middleburg in 1987.

Survivors include his wife, Anne Fling Gosnell, whom he married in 1985, of Middleburg; a daughter from his first marriage, Carol Ann Sheppard of Grasonville, Md.; four stepchildren from his second marriage, Pat LaGrange of Frederick, Debby Fling of Ocean City, Jim Fling of Corpus Christi, Tex., and Michael Fling of Hagerstown, Md.; four grandchildren; and nine great-grandchildren.

Sue Li LeeLibrarian

Sue Li Lee, 68, who retired from the State Department as a librarian in 2005, died of cancer Feb. 12 at her home in Fairfax.

She was born in Gansu Lanzhou, China, and had lived in the Washington area for 46 years. She graduated from Catholic University with a bachelor's in English and received a master's degree in library science from there in 1964. Mrs. Lee worked at the State Department for more than 25 years.

She was active in the Chinese Community Church in the District.