Obituaries

Richard W. JamesNavy Oceanographer

Richard W. James, 82, an oceanographer for the Department of the Navy, died of a subdural hematoma June 22 at Renaissance Gardens in Springfield. He also had dementia.

Dr. James worked from 1955 to 1987 for what became the Naval Oceanographic Office. An expert on wave formation, he wrote about giant waves as well as more than two dozen other topics in the field and presented papers in Russia, Germany and England.

In 1955, he co-authored "Practical Methods for Observing and Forecasting Ocean Waves by Means of Wave Spectra and Statistics." This study led him to help develop the Navy's Optimum Track Ship Routing program, which saved the Navy $10 million a year, as estimated in 1961.

Dr. James was born in Oak Park, Ill., and moved to Plainfield, N.J., as a child with his family. In 1943, in the middle of his senior year of high school, he enlisted in the Army Air Forces and served in the United States during World War II.

After the war, he graduated from New York University, where he received a master's degree in meteorology in 1951. After forecasting for a year for the oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, he returned to NYU for his doctorate in oceanography, awarded in 1957.

He moved to Temple Hills in 1955 and began working for the Navy. At the close of his government career, he served as scientific adviser to the Office of the Oceanographer of the Navy at the Naval Observatory in Washington.

After retirement, he built a house himself on two acres in Waldorf. He also took an art course and began oil painting of architectural subjects. He enjoyed sailing, travel and history.

Survivors include his wife of 59 years, Carol B. James of Springfield; five children, Jacqueline Siegel of Laguna Niguel, Calif., Douglas James of Alexandria, Chrystean Horsman of Arlington, Tex., Jeffrey James of Christchurch, New Zealand, and Jonathan James of Warrenton; two brothers; eight grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.

-- Patricia Sullivan

Alfred SchockChemical, Nuclear Engineer

Alfred Schock, 81, a chemical and nuclear engineer who spent 30 years as director of the energy systems department at what became Orbital Sciences Corp., died June 20 at Suburban Hospital in Bethesda. He had congestive heart failure.