Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Virginia R. FearsonPharmacy Clerk
Virginia R. Fearson, 80, who worked as a pharmacy clerk with CVS for 22 years, died July 2 at Casey House Hospice in Rockville. She had complications from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Mrs. Fearson worked mostly at a CVS store in Aspen Hill before retiring in 1992.
She was born in Washington and graduated from Eastern High School. She attended Corcoran College of Art and Design for two years and majored in art.
She was a former resident of Silver Spring.
Her husband of 54 years, William J. Fearson, died in 2002.
Survivors include three children, Mary Jane Chiantella of Gaithersburg, Joanne Kerere and Michael Fearson, both of Silver Spring; nine grandchildren; and 11 great-grandchildren.
-- Yvonne Shinhoster Lamb
Deanna H. 'Dee' NicholsFort Washington Homemaker
Deanna Honcoop "Dee" Nichols, 85, a Fort Washington homemaker who helped create a senior aquatics program in Prince George's County, died July 11 at Heritage Harbour Health and Rehabilitation Center in Annapolis. She had complications from a fall about a month ago.
Mrs. Nichols worked on the pool effort about 1970, and her swimming program began at the Padgett's Corner swimming pool. She also participated in local, state and national swimming competitions.
She was born in Lynden, Wash., and was the third of eight children. After her father deserted the family, she helped support it by doing farm work at 13.
She married in 1942 and accompanied her husband on his military assignments before settling in the Washington area in 1961.
She was a member of the Terrapin Club, a University of Maryland athletics fan organization.
Her husband, retired Air Force Lt. Col. William C. Nichols, died in 2003.
Survivors include four children, Mary Nichols of Newark, Ohio, Karin Clancy of Pasadena, Robert Nichols of Fort Washington and Lauri Kemmerling of Chapin, S.C.; a sister; a brother; six grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren.
-- Adam Bernstein
Rene Sanford PeytonCIA Analyst
Rene Sanford Peyton, 89, chief of the CIA's Soviet Russia Reports and Requirements section in the early years of the agency and later a Soviet analyst, died July 9 at the Wheelock Terrace assisted living center in Hanover, N.H. He had complications of Alzheimer's disease.
From 1943 to 1945, Mrs. Peyton was on the staff of the Office of Strategic Services in Washington and Switzerland. She joined the CIA at its inception and led a 25-person section until 1957. She worked part time for several years and worked on contract while raising her children. In 1977, Mrs. Peyton went back to a full-time position at the agency until she retired in 1982. She had lived in Washington and Arlington County since 1943.
Mrs. Peyton was born in Columbus, Ohio. She was the daughter of an Army officer and grew up in Washington; Claremont, Calif.; Cheyenne, Wyo.; and Denver. She graduated from Scripps College in Claremont and received a master's degree in sociology and anthropology from Claremont College in 1940. For two years, she lived and worked in Panama and then began teaching at the University of Wisconsin as older faculty members were called away to the war.
She volunteered as director of Christian education for Christ Episcopal Church in Georgetown, as a Girl Scout troop leader in Arlington, as a trustee of the Episcopal Center for Children in Washington and as an outreach volunteer for St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Arlington. She maintained a liaison with the Rosebud, S.D., Sioux Indian reservation, where her grandfather, the Rev. David Sanford, had served as missionary in the 1880s.
Her husband of 32 years, Philip Barbour Peyton Jr., died in 1988.
Survivors include two daughters, Lizann Peyton of Norwich, Vt., and Sarah Peyton Weiser of Chapel Hill, N.C.; and four granddaughters.
-- Patricia Sullivan
Ruth C. NicholsPurcellville Businesswoman
Ruth Carter Nichols, 82, a co-owner with her husband of a Loudoun County appliance store, died July 5 at her home in Purcellville. She had complications from colitis.
Mrs. Nichols co-owned Nichols Appliance Center in Purcellville from 1964 to 1989.
She was a Leesburg native and a 1942 graduate of Leesburg High School. During World War II, she trained briefly as a nurse and worked at St. Elizabeths Hospital in Washington.
In retirement, she was a volunteer at what is now Inova Loudoun Hospital. She also was a driver for the American Cancer Society and delivered food to the needy for the Food Closet.
She was a member of Junior Woman's Club of Loudoun and the Home Interest Club of Purcellville, a women's group.
Survivors include her husband of 62 years, Milton A. Nichols of Purcellville; three children, Robert M. Nichols of Oak Island, N.C., David C. Nichols of Berryville, Va., and Mary Susan DeHart of Kernersville, N.C.; two sisters, Catherine Taylor of Warrenton, and Janet Hudgins of Franklin, Va.; seven grandchildren; and a great-granddaughter.
-- Adam Bernstein
Joseph CucinelliDOT Personnel Specialist
Joseph Cucinelli, 78, who was an automated systems analyst and personnel specialist at the Department of Transportation for 15 years, died of complications of diabetes and pneumonia June 23 at Inova Fair Oaks Hospital.
Mr. Cucinelli worked for the federal government from 1956 until his retirement in 1992. He worked for the Civil Service Commission, Department of the Interior, Federal Aviation Administration and Transportation Department.
He was born in Pittsburgh, worked in the steel mills as a young man and joined the Army in 1946. After his service, he graduated from the University of Pittsburgh and then moved to New York, where he took classes at Columbia University.
Mr. Cucinelli moved to Washington and later Alexandria, where he lived until his death.
A lover of the arts, Mr. Cucinelli played the clavichord for many years and enjoyed classical music. He also liked going to museums to see historic art, and he dedicated his post-retirement life to enameling, drawing and painting portraits, still lifes and river and cityscapes.
Mr. Cucinelli read on subjects including the brain, DNA, war history and literature. He also wrote haikus.
He participated in several bowling leagues, played in an adult hockey league for two years and owned season tickets to the Washington Capitals hockey team and the old Washington Diplomats soccer team. For several years, Mr. Cucinelli enjoyed sailing his 21-foot sailboat, Aquarius, on the Potomac River.
His wife of 48 years, Ieva Priman Cucinelli, died in March.
Survivors include his son, James Cucinelli of Alexandria.
-- Patricia Sullivan
Gordon T. Shahin Sr.CIA Management Professor
Gordon T. Shahin Sr., 82, an engineer who worked for the CIA for 29 years, died of complications of diabetes July 12 at Sibley Memorial Hospital. He lived in Reston.
He was a professor of executive management training at the agency until 1996 and also taught evenings in the graduate business school at American University. He previously worked on the X-1 fighter plane while employed at Bell Aircraft in the 1950s.
He was born in Niagara Falls, N.Y., and enlisted in the Army after high school and served during World War II with the 75th Infantry Division in France. After the war, he graduated from Cornell University and the University at Buffalo, then received two master's degrees in engineering, one from Buffalo in 1948 and another from Syracuse University in 1950. He received a doctorate in operations research from Ohio State University in 1960.
Mr. Shahin worked for Bell Aircraft in Ohio and taught at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio. He joined the CIA in 1967 and moved to the Washington area.
He was a supporter of Arena Stage, the Dayton Civic Ballet in Ohio and St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital in Memphis. He was a member of the American Management Association and the Knights of Columbus.
A daughter, Roberta Shahin Dougherty, died in 1997.
Survivors include his wife of 56 years, Charlotte F. Shahin of Reston; three children, Nancy Lynn Shahin Itteilag of Potomac, Mary Beth Neiman of Potomac Falls and Gordon T. Shahin Jr. of Bellaire, Tex.; a brother, Edward J. Shahin of McLean; a sister, Lois Riscile of Niagara Falls; and seven grandchildren.
-- Patricia Sullivan