Monday, August 27, 2007
Julia LoweHechinger Employee
Julia Lowe, 81, a former receiving manager for Hechinger stores, died Aug. 16 at her home in Haines City, Fla., of complications from a stroke, heart disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Mrs. Lowe lived in Springfield for 18 years, from 1963 to 1981. She was active in square dancing and clogging groups while in the area. She also enjoyed RVing, dancing and watching crime shows on television.
She was born in Colonie, N.Y., and grew up in Watervliet, N.Y. She left Northern Virginia for New Mexico and then moved to Florida in 1991.
Survivors include her husband of 58 years, Frank J. Lowe of Ridge; four children, Michael Lowe of Sandy, Ore., David Lowe of Ridge, Sandra Buxton of Burke and Susan Faul of Lexington Park; 10 grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.
-- Patricia Sullivan
Charles J. PetersFAA Legal Officer
Charles James Peters, 90, who retired in 1973 as the Federal Aviation Administration's associate general counsel for litigation, died of cardiac arrest Aug. 12 at his home in Alexandria.
Mr. Peters spent his career as a legal officer for the FAA and its predecessor agencies. In retirement, he spent a decade as associate Washington counsel of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association and was of counsel to the law firm of John S. Yodice.
In 1970, as the FAA's acting general counsel, he played a major role in a labor dispute between the agency and the relatively new Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization.
After more than 2,000 controllers staged a three-week "sick-out," Mr. Peters strongly challenged the legality of the strike. The result was a court-ordered injunction against slowdowns, sick-outs, strikes and similar actions.
The union largely ignored the ruling, culminating in a 1981 strike in which more than 12,000 controllers walked off the job. The Reagan administration crushed the strike.
Mr. Peters also represented the FAA in lawsuits stemming from plane crashes and was chairman of the board of grievance review, an appellate body for the agency's disciplinary actions.
He worked with the governments of Panama and Chile to create comprehensive guidelines affecting aircraft operations. He also chaired a U.S. group of multi-agency representatives working to develop policy on international crimes against aircraft.
Mr. Peters, a native of Rochester, N.Y., was a 1938 graduate of the University of Toronto and a 1941 graduate of Georgetown University's law school. He took law classes at night while working for the Federal Home Loan Bank Board.
During World War II, he served in the Army Air Forces in Europe as an air operations specialist.
He was a golfer and won club championships in Northern Virginia. Belle Haven Country Club, where he was a member, named him most valuable player in 1982 for his participation in team matches with other clubs in the Northern Virginia retired men's league.
He was a member of St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Alexandria.
His marriage to Dorothea Michel Peters ended in divorce. His second wife, Geraldine Thomas Peters, died in 1998.
Survivors include two daughters from his first marriage, Patricia Peters of Arlington County and Dorathea Peters of Alexandria; three stepchildren, Cynthia Colasanto of Alexandria, Patricia Shannon of Fairfax County and William Crawford of Fort Worth; and eight grandchildren.
-- Adam Bernstein
Virginia Marie ChandlerNurse, Personnel Officer
Virginia Marie Chandler, 66, a nurse and personnel officer at the State Department, died of a staph infection Aug. 23 at Washington Adventist Hospital. She lived in Solomons Island.
In the 1980s, she worked as a registered nurse at George Washington, Arlington, Fairfax and Alexandria hospitals. In the 1990s, she became an administrative personnel officer at State. She visited many U.S. embassies in the course of her duties.
A longtime Alexandria resident, she retired in 2005 to Solomons and was an avid sailor, cruising the Chesapeake Bay, the East Coast and the Bahamas.
She was born in the Bronx, N.Y., and graduated from Misericordia Nursing School and the City College of New York. She married and accompanied her husband, an official with the U.S. Agency for International Development, to many overseas posts.
Survivors include her husband of 43 years, Dennis M. Chandler of Solomons; three children, Mike Chandler of Stafford, Phil Chandler of Leesburg and Christina Chandler of Tel Aviv; her mother, Marie Lewis of New Fairfield, Conn.; two sisters; three brothers; and four grandchildren.
-- Patricia Sullivan
Alexander F. HolserPhysicist
Alexander Fraser Holser, 84, a physicist who worked for the Central Intelligence Agency and the Department of the Interior, died Aug. 24 at the Pickersgill Retirement Community in Towson. He had cancer.
Mr. Holser worked at the CIA as a physical scientist in the design and operation of technical intelligence collection systems from 1963 until 1975. He received a certificate of distinction for his work.
He then joined the Interior Department as assistant secretary of energy and minerals, and later was assistant secretary of water and science. He was Interior's representative to the third Law of the Sea conference at the United Nations, and was the staff representative to the interagency group on Antarctic and oceans policy. He retired as a senior technical adviser in 1989.
He was born in Bakersfield, Calif., and served in the Army in the United States during World War II. He graduated from the California Institute of Technology, where he also received a master's degree in math. He worked for Lockheed on advanced satellite systems design until moving to Reston, where he lived from 1965 to 1986. He lived two more years in Washington before moving to the Baltimore area.
In retirement, he worked as a technical writer and a teacher in the Baltimore schools' special education department, and was company manager for the Maryland Ballet Company. He retired a second time in 2001.
His first wife, Manon Harder Holser, died in 1960. His marriage to Iola Holser ended in divorce.
Survivors include his wife of 35 years, Annetta Tenchini Holser of Towson; three children from his first marriage, Anita Holser of San Jose, Calif., Sigrid Holser of Baltimore and Malcolm Holser of Merced, Calif.; six stepchildren, Camile Holser of Oakland, Calif., Douglas Holser of Los Angeles, Reese Holser of San Jose, Annetta Hanna of Maplewood, N.J., Juliet Komisarcik of Bristol, Va., and Laura Guggenheim of New York; and 10 grandchildren.
-- Patricia Sullivan
Arlo D. AndersonMathematician
Arlo D. Anderson, 82, a mathematician at the Naval Research Laboratory, died Aug. 11 at Fort Washington Hospital of heart arrhythmia and renal disease.
Mr. Anderson worked on the nuclear weapons program, including the first hydrogen bomb detonation and the study of the electromagnetic pulse, a phenomenon related to air burst nuclear explosions. He retired in 1973.
He was born in Amboy, Ill., and grew up in West Branch, Iowa. He served as a bombardier and navigator in the Army Air Forces in the United States during World War II. After the war, he graduated from the University of Oregon, where he also received his master's degree in mathematics in 1949.
An early resident of the Moyoane Reserve in Accokeek, he served as president of the local association and worked for the scenic easement that preserved the view of the Potomac River as seen from George Washington's Mount Vernon home.
Survivors include his wife of 56 years, Betty Anderson of Accokeek; a son, Clifford Anderson of Accokeek; and a brother.
-- Patricia Sullivan