Obituaries

He transferred to the Air Force after that branch of the military was formed in 1947. He graduated from the Air Force Institute of Technology at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio and taught mathematics there for several years. He received a master's degree in electrical engineering from Stanford University in the early 1950s.

Col. Hesse helped design weapons for the Air Force, directed research in satellite communications and headed a program for developing electronic intelligence devices. He had been based in the Washington area since 1958 and retired from the Air Force in 1975. His decorations included the Legion of Merit.

Col. Hesse joined the Prince George's County government as chief electrical inspector and worked there for 18 years. From 1993 until November 2006, he was the chief electrical inspector in Laurel, responsible for evaluating the electrical systems in homes and commercial and apartment buildings.

He was a member of Oxon Hill Lutheran Church in Temple Hills for more than 40 years. He was a vice president and elder of the church, a member of the property committee, an usher and coffee host.

Survivors include his wife of 62 years, Charlotte Hesse of Temple Hills; a son, Scott Hesse of Springfield; a brother; and two grandsons.

-- Matt Schudel

Cheryl A. SpectorCIA Employee, Gay Activist

Cheryl Ann Spector, 49, a CIA executive secretary who volunteered extensively in Washington's gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community as an archivist and videographer, died Sept. 4 at George Washington University Hospital. She had acute myeloid leukemia.

Ms. Spector had worked for the CIA since 2000. Earlier, she did public relations work for the National Association of Realtors and the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries.

For more than 20 years, she was known in the area's gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community for taking pictures and videos of marches, parties, speeches, funerals and other gatherings.