Tuesday, August 28, 2007
William D. RossonGeneral Practitioner
William D. Rosson, 83, a New Carrollton primary care physician who was still making house calls, died after a heart attack Aug. 19 at the University of Virginia Hospital in Charlottesville.
Dr. Rosson practiced medicine for more than 50 years from his office at Route 450 and the Capital Beltway. His brother said that three years ago, after patients mentioned they had trouble making medical appointments because of their work schedules, Dr. Rosson began opening his office at 7 a.m. to accommodate them.
During the 2004 flu vaccine shortage, he told The Washington Post, "We're forced into rationing. This is a very daunting task. . . . What I feel morally obligated to do is give it to people at greatest risk. So many have two or three of these major illnesses. . . . It's a real tough call, but we just use the best judgment we can."
He was an accomplished portrait and still-life artist and was at work on a painting on the porch of a small cabin in Etlan, Va., when he had the fatal heart attack, his brother said.
Born in Culpeper, Dr. Rosson graduated from the old Ann Wingfield High School in Culpeper, where he was the county's first Eagle Scout. He moved with his family to Hyattsville and enrolled in the University of Maryland, but World War II interrupted his education. He served in the Army in the Pacific theater. After the war, he returned to college, graduated and then received a medical degree from the University of Maryland's medical school in Baltimore in 1953.
He was a founding member of Doctors Hospital in Greenbelt and also former president of the Prince George's County Medical Society.
His marriages to Elaine "Corky" Quarforth Rosson and Ella Seyfer Rosson ended in divorce.
Survivors include five children, Paul Rosson and Michael Rosson, both of Washington, Allan Rosson of Los Angeles, Glenn Rosson of Seaford, Va., and Carol Rosson Smith of West Virginia; a stepson, Ilya Rosson of Chicago; a brother, John Rosson of Washington; and three grandchildren.
-- Patricia Sullivan
Stacy HutchinsReporter
Stacy Hutchins, 45, a Washington-based general assignment reporter for Belo broadcasting until ill health prompted her to leave in 2005, died Aug. 7 at Georgetown University Hospital. She had breast cancer.
Ms. Hutchins moved to the Washington area in 1985 and briefly was a reporter for the United Press International wire service.
She was a Washington correspondent for Atlanta's WAGA-TV and other television stations before joining Providence (R.I) Journal/King Broadcasting in 1992. Belo bought that company in the mid-1990s.
Ms. Hutchins's beat focused largely on consumer, health, education and children's issues. She was part of a special team of Belo's print, broadcast and Internet reporters covering the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and its aftermath.
She was born in Jacksonville, Fla., and graduated from a fine arts high school in Birmingham. She was a 1984 journalism graduate of the University of Alabama.
She was a member of St. Peters Catholic Church in Washington, her city of residence.
Survivors include her husband of 15 years, Larry Hodgson, and their two children, Spencer J. Hodgson and Haley R. Hodgson, all of Washington; her mother and stepfather, Constance and Bill Somora of Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.; her father and stepmother, G. Malcolm and Mary Hutchins of Ponte Vedra Beach; and a brother.
-- Adam Bernstein
G. Tom BakerNAHB Executive
G. Tom Baker, 75, a top Democratic Party operative who became vice president of political affairs at the National Association of Home Builders, died Aug. 25 at Anne Arundel Medical Center. He had heart disease and leukemia.
Starting in 1983, he spent 15 years with the NAHB. Among his responsibilities was running its political action committee, which raised and doled out millions of dollars to political candidates supporting its agenda.
Mr. Baker spent much of his early career as a Democratic Party operative. In the 1960s, he was special assistant to national Democratic Party Chairman John M. Bailey.
Mr. Baker was executive director of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee at the time of the Republican landslide election victory in 1980. He had long consulted on campaigns.
George Tom Baker was born in Minneapolis and grew up on military bases with his father, an Army officer. He completed high school in Munich.
He spent three years playing trumpet in American jazz combos in Germany and four years in the U.S. Air Force Band at Bolling Air Force Base. He was a 1960 journalism graduate of the University of Maryland.
In retirement, he continued to play jazz trumpet.
Survivors include his wife of 48 years, Ann Marie Perry Baker of Crofton; two sons, Scott Baker of Los Angeles and Gregory R. Baker of Crofton; a brother; two sisters; and three grandchildren.
-- Adam Bernstein
Ruth S. HallPrince Frederick Volunteer
Ruth Smith Hall, 84, a volunteer at Trinity United Methodist Church and Calvert Memorial Hospital, both in Prince Frederick, died Aug. 13 at Calvert Memorial Hospital. She had cerebral and cerebellar degeneration.
Mrs. Hall, who also volunteered for 4-H, owned a farm in Calvert County for much of her adult life. She moved to Solomons from the farm about six years ago.
She was a native of York Springs, Pa., and a 1943 chemistry graduate of Indiana State University.
She was a lab technician in Philadelphia and taught high school chemistry in Prince Frederick briefly before her marriage in 1949.
Her husband, Robert M. Hall, died in 1977. A son, Rodney Hall, died in 1972.
Survivors include a daughter, Lucinda Anderson of Santa Paula, Calif.
-- Adam Bernstein
Mary T. DiSciulloTeacher
Mary T. DiSciullo, 82, a former teacher at Burgundy Farm Country Day School in Alexandria, died of respiratory failure Aug. 10 at Greenspring Village in Springfield, where she lived.
Mrs. DiSciullo taught at the school from the mid-1960s until 1976, when she accompanied her husband to Genoa, Italy, where he was consul general.
The couple returned to Alexandria in 1981, and Mrs. DiSciullo resumed teaching until she retired in the late 1980s.
She was born in Northampton, Mass., and graduated from Smith College. In the late 1940s, she briefly worked as a social worker in New York City.
Her husband, John DiSciullo, died in 2002.
Survivors include three sons, John DiSciullo of Alexandria, James DiSciullo of Columbia and Jeffrey DiSciullo of Springfield; a sister; and four grandchildren.
-- Patricia Sullivan
Robert M. AdrianDermatologist
Robert Michael Adrian, 60, a top Washington dermatologist whose practice, the Center for Laser Surgery, became known for its cosmetic laser surgeries for skin care, died Aug. 10 at Georgetown University Hospital. He had leukemia.
Dr. Adrian began his medical practice in 1980 and was often at the top of Washingtonian magazine's list of recommended dermatologists. He was frequently quoted in the news about skin care and, in particular, the use of lasers to treat skin disorders.
He gave free tattoo removals to former gang members and free treatments to infants who had skin disorders and were from low-income families.
Dr. Adrian, a Chevy Chase resident, was born in the Bronx, N.Y. He was a 1968 graduate of Georgetown University, which he attended on a track and field scholarship.
He received a master's degree in biochemistry from Fordham University in 1971 and four years later was class valedictorian at Georgetown's medical school.
He completed his internal medicine residency at Georgetown before becoming a fellow in dermatology at Harvard Medical School. He also had a fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital's Wellman Laboratory of Photomedicine.
He trained doctors worldwide in laser surgical techniques and published scientific articles in his field.
Dr. Adrian was a fellow of the American College of Physicians, the American Academy of Dermatology and the American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery. He also was a clinical assistant dermatology professor at Georgetown's medical school.
He spent 17 years as a youth ice hockey coach at the Chevy Chase Club and coached his sons' soccer teams. He also enjoyed running and biking and trained his sons in cross-country as well as track and field.
Survivors include his wife, Janet Leeney Adrian, whom he married in 1975, and four sons, Tom Adrian, Jack Adrian, Will Adrian and Robby Adrian, all of Chevy Chase; his mother, Elsie Adrian of Valhalla, N.Y.; two brothers; and a sister.
-- Adam Bernstein
Myles William EdwardsEpiscopal Priest
Myles William Edwards, 67, an Episcopal priest and harpsichordist, died of a brain tumor Aug. 21 at his home in Kensington.
Rev. Edwards spent a year as rector at St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Fort Belvoir and later was a volunteer chaplain at Washington National Cathedral from 1991 to 2002.
The highlight of his career, his wife said, was rebuilding a 277-year-old church in New Castle, Del., Immanuel Episcopal Church on the Green, after a devastating fire in 1980.
He was the rector there, and during the three years that the church was undergoing reconstruction, he introduced liturgical reforms that attracted many new parishioners.
An accomplished harpsichordist, he played with a group called the Glebe Consort, appearing on NBC's "Today Show" in 1976.
He was born in Kingston, Pa., and graduated from Albright College in Reading, Pa., and later from the Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria in 1964. He also did graduate work in music at Oberlin College.
Rev. Edwards became a curate in Wilmington, Del., where he helped calm the race riots of 1967 to 1969. He then became rector of Immanuel Episcopal Church, whose the reconstruction was featured in the February 1984 Architectural Record.
He moved to St. Luke's Episcopal Church at Fort Belvoir 1988, then left and worked as a church organist at Dahlgren Chapel at Georgetown University, as well as serving as transportation officer for Barrie School.
He volunteered at local Episcopal churches and in 1991 at Washington National Cathedral, where he was chaplain until 2002.
Rev. Edwards enjoyed reading about history and politics and listening to new baroque and romantic music.
His marriage to Brenda Edwards ended in divorce. A daughter, Megan Edwards, died in 1990.
Survivors include his wife of 15 years, Gail Meier Edwards of Kensington; a son from his first marriage, Judson Myles Edwards of Pittsgrove, N.J.; three stepchildren, Christopher Fenster of San Francisco, Jenny Fenster Slade of Boulder, Colo., and Jonathan Adam Fenster of Washington; a brother; and two grandchildren.
-- Patricia Sullivan
Marjorie M. HotchnerSoprano Soloist
Marjorie McClure Hotchner, 88, a soprano soloist who sang at Washington area churches from the late 1950s to 1970s, died Aug. 5 of cardiopulmonary arrest at the Fountains at Washington House seniors home in Alexandria.
Mrs. Hotchner moved to Washington House last year from her longtime home in Arlington.
Her memberships included Clarendon Presbyterian Church and the Daughters of the American Revolution, for which she was a Washington chapter regent in the early 1970s.
She sang with the DARlings, a musical group affiliated with the DAR, and the Friday Morning Music Club.
She was a native of Wallingford, Pa., and a 1942 communications graduate of Syracuse University. She spent a few years as an Office of War Information scriptwriter in New York.
She accompanied her husband on a Voice of America assignment in India before they settled in the Washington area in the late 1950s. In the 1960s, she was a shipping analyst for the U.S. Maritime Administration.
Her husband, Howard Hotchner, whom she married in 1946, died in 1990.
Survivors include three children, John M. Hotchner of Falls Church, Howard H. Hotchner of Harrisonburg, Va., and Christina Hotchner of Silver Spring; two brothers; four grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.
-- Adam Bernstein
