Saturday, March 17, 2007
Elisa M. KieswetterState Department Employee
Elisa M. Kieswetter, 70, a former State Department employee, died of pancreatic cancer Feb. 23 at her home in Arlington.
Mrs. Kieswetter worked for the U.S. Agency for International Development's Office of Population Research and the Europe and Newly Independent States Bureau from 1989 to 1996. For the next three years, she was at State's National Foreign Affairs Institute as an assistant to the executive director of the registrar.
From 1999 to 2004, she worked as office manager and medical assistant in the obstetrics and gynecology practice run by one of her daughters, Dr. Caren Kieswetter of Arlington.
She thrived in the richness of diversity of the area, her daughters said, and volunteered to register Hispanic voters, studied geography and cultures, and had a passion for the latest trend, from food to hairstyles. She loved art, dance and music, ranging from Panamanian danzas de los Mestizos to the arias of Verdi and Mozart.
"She believed that when life gives you limes, make margaritas," said another daughter, Patricia Kieswetter of Randallstown.
Born in San Jose, Costa Rica, she immigrated with her family to Panama in 1944. She studied piano and music at the Conservatorio Nacional de Panama and graduated from the Universidad Nacional de Panama.
She married in 1957 and moved to the United States a decade later. Mrs. Kieswetter began working for the Organization of American States General Secretariat in 1969, retiring in 1989 as legal assistant for the administrative tribunal. She received her general equivalency degree in 1979 from Washington-Lee High School in Arlington.
Her marriage to Robert C. Kieswetter ended in divorce.
Survivors, in addition to her daughters, include her father, Fernando Bonilla of Arlington; four sisters; and a grandson.
Charles A. BohrerCIA PhysicianCharles A. Bohrer, 86, a retired physician with the CIA, died Feb. 21 of pneumonia at Inova Alexandria Hospital. He was a 47-year resident of Alexandria.
Dr. Bohrer was born in West Plains, Mo., and graduated from the University of Missouri in 1942. He received a medical degree from George Washington University in 1946.
After his internship and military duty as a captain in the Air Force, he entered private general practice in Arlington. Five years later, he joined the CIA medical office.
After an assignment in Europe for several years, he entered residency training in psychiatry at St. Elizabeths Hospital and completed training in 1961 at George Washington University Hospital.
Returning to the CIA, he held various positions in the medical office, including deputy director of the office and director for the final five years of his service. He retired in 1980 but continued to work as a consultant to the medical office until 1995.
Dr. Bohrer was a member of the Medical Society of Virginia, the American Psychiatric Association and the American Medical Association.
Survivors include his wife of 61 years, Doris S. Bohrer of Alexandria; a son, Jason Price Bohrer of Greensboro, N.C.; a sister; and two grandchildren.
Talmage E. SimpkinsMaritime Labor LeaderTalmage Eugene Simpkins, 79, who devoted more than 50 years to the American maritime labor and seafaring community, died March 11 at Inova Fairfax Hospital of injuries sustained in a car accident Feb. 24 on Route 15, north of the Prince William County line in Loudoun County.
A Haymarket resident, Mr. Simpkins was in his 18th year as the volunteer president for the United Seamen's Service, the agency that provides health, welfare and recreation to sailors at eight ports.
Mr. Simpkins retired in 2006 as executive vice president of the AFL-CIO's Labor Management Maritime Committee in Washington. He spent most of his working life with the union.
Born in Goreville, Ill., he enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1945 and was appointed to the Naval Academy. He was discharged from military service in 1947 and graduated from the University of Maryland the following year.
He worked in advertising and insurance briefly until joining the AFL-CIO Maritime Committee in 1956.
In 1970, he was appointed Washington representative for the National Maritime Union, serving two years until he was named co-director of the AFL-CIO's Labor Management Maritime Committee and, later, executive vice president. He was also elected executive director of the AFL-CIO Maritime Committee in 1970.
Mr. Simpkins received a special United Seamen's Service Admiral of the Sea Award in 2002 for his work. He was appointed by President Ronald Reagan to serve on the National Advisory Council on Continuing Education. A former resident of Lanham, he was a past board member for the Prince George's County Parks and Recreation Foundation and Prince George's Hospital Center. He also was past president of Prince George's Country Club.
He was a member of the Propeller Club of America and the National Defense Transportation Association, as well as the Navy League.
His wife of 49 years, Irene Ann Simpkins, died in 1996.
Survivors include his wife, Heidi Simpkins of Haymarket; a son from his first marriage, Talmage E. "Buddy" Simpkins Jr. of Atlanta; three stepdaughters, Angela Thomas, Michelle DiRienzo and Sheila Burchfield, all of Tampa; a brother; and four grandsons.