Obituaries

For the next 28 years, he worked in Washington for the Appalachian Regional Commission until he retired in 1993.

A member of the Riverdale Lions Club and St. Jerome's Catholic Church, Mr. Schmitt was mayor of the town of Riverdale in the late 1960s. He also was chairman of the Prince George's County Municipal Association and on the board of the Sea Terrace Condominiums in Ocean City. He moved to North Carolina in 2006.

His wife of 52 years, Margaret Mary Wheatley Schmitt, died in 1996.

Survivors include seven children, Theresa Crawmer of Stafford, Earl Schmitt Jr. of Star Tannery, Va., Paul Schmitt of Crofton, Winship Schmitt of Wilmington, N.C., John Schmitt of Emerald Isle, N.C., Philip Schmitt of New Carrollton and Jerome Schmitt of Ocean City; two sisters, Loretta Amrod of Saugerties, N.Y., and Angela Higgins of Linthicum Heights; a brother, Edward Schmitt of Beltsville; 18 grandchildren; and 14 great-grandchildren.

Christina RegneryHostess

Christina Regnery, 59, a hostess with a deep interest in music, died April 22 of complications of a heart attack at George Washington University Hospital. She was an Alexandria resident.

Mrs. Regnery, a native of Chicago and a graduate of the University of Wisconsin, was a pianist who served on the board of the Arlington Symphony for several years. She also was an organizer and sponsor of the annual evening of Viennese waltzes at the Organization of American States building.

She was active in the conservative movement. With her husband, who is the publisher of the Arlington-based American Spectator magazine, she sponsored many lavish parties at her home for political and inaugural events.

Her social events included outdoor parties each summer for amateur string quartet, quintet and sextet performances by family members and friends.

She was also a sponsor for foreign students and an occasional substitute teacher at T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria. She converted to Catholicism in 2002 and attended Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Georgetown.

Survivors include her husband of 37 years, Alfred S. Regnery of Alexandria; four children, George Regnery of Ridgefield, Conn., Alfred W. Regnery and Charles Regnery, both of Alexandria, and Louise Regnery of West Palm Beach, Fla.; a brother; and one grandson.

Patricia Pate CunninghamTeacher, Church Officer

Patricia Pate Cunningham, 74, a former teacher who became the first director of the National Presbyterian School and who was a leader in the National Presbyterian Church, died April 14 at her home in Chevy Chase. She had liver failure from complications of breast cancer.

Mrs. Cunningham served as head of the National Presbyterian School from 1969 to 1972. Later, she worked 10 years as a writer-editor at the National Institute on Aging, retiring from there in 1993.

At National Presbyterian Church in Washington, she served on the bicentennial committee, was co-dean of all church retreats, and was a member and officer of the Women's Association. As a ruling elder member of the Session, the church's ruling body, she served as the chairman of the Congregational Care Pillar, the Library and Archives Council and the Older Adults Council. She recently served as a trustee of the National Presbyterian School.

Mrs. Cunningham, who was born in Newbern, Tenn., was valedictorian of her high school class and received a bachelor's degree in history and political science from the University of Tennessee in 1955. She taught school and directed day-care centers in Columbus, Ohio, for several years before moving with her husband to Rockville in 1966.

She was a docent at the Smithsonian Museum of American History for 29 years and a White House volunteer during the Clinton administration.

Survivors include her husband, George W. Cunningham of Chevy Chase; two children, John Cunningham of Baltimore and Ann Clessas of Alexandria; a brother; and two grandsons.