Obituaries

He was born in Seattle and served in the Civil Air Patrol and in the Naval Air Reserve.

He worked as a bank clerk in Seattle before becoming a sales manager for Pacific Fruit and Produce. He rose to branch manager of Pacific Fruit offices in Yakima, Wash., Salt Lake City and Portland, Ore.

In 1967, he was the Portland district sales manager for Nation's Business magazine, the official publication for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. He moved to Washington in 1970 to be national sales director of the magazine and was responsible for more than 350 sales professionals nationwide.

He left that position in 1980 and continued to work as a sales official for various organizations, including a lobbying association of small businesses.

His memberships included the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry in Alexandria, the Kena Shriners in Fairfax and the National Capital Dahlia Society. He also belonged to Oakton United Methodist Church in Fairfax.

Survivors include his wife of 58 years, Audrey E. Ames of Fairfax; four children, Laura L. Ames of Portland, Kathleen A. Haywood of Woodbridge, Patricia I. Whitney of Helena, Mont., and Thomas J. Ames Jr. of Purcellville; 11 grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren.

-- Yvonne Shinhoster Lamb

Charles F. DirlamHHS Administrative Law Judge

Charles Francis Dirlam, 77, a chief administrative law judge for what became the Department of Health and Human Services, died Sept. 10 at Shady Grove Adventist Hospital in Rockville. He had malignant arrhythmia.

In 1970, Mr. Dirlam joined what was then the Department of Health, Education and Welfare. He was chief administrative law judge of its Washington office from 1972 until his retirement in 1996.

Earlier in his career, he was assistant general counsel of the Subversive Activities Control Board, a now-defunct federal agency; a Washington lawyer in private practice; and an FBI special agent in Oklahoma City.