Friday, December 28, 2007
Walter C. WallaceMediator
Walter C. Wallace, 83, the former chairman of the National Mediation Board, died Nov. 27 at a friend's home in Great Barrington, Mass., after a heart attack. He lived in New York.
Mr. Wallace was best known for heading up the contentious negotiations between management, led by chief executive Frank Lorenzo, and labor, specifically the machinists union, just before the Eastern Airlines strike in 1989.
A three-time appointee to the board, Mr. Wallace was deeply involved in several major disputes from 1982 to 1990 between labor and management at Northwest Airlines, Pan American World Airways and the Long Island Rail Road.
He was born in New York and served in the Army during World War II in Italy, receiving the Bronze Star. He graduated from St. John's University in New York and received a law degree from Cornell University.
In the 1950s, Mr. Wallace was appointed assistant secretary of labor by President Dwight D. Eisenhower. He represented the nation at the International Labor Organization conference on the timber industry in 1958, introducing a proposal that achieved the industry's first agreement, despite the opposition of the then-Soviet Union.
He participated in mediations and negotiations with the railroad and steel industries and in 1961 served as general counsel of the Presidential Railroad Commission.
In the 1960s, Mr. Wallace integrated the workforce at the Hudson Pulp and Paper mill, the largest southern pulp mill in the South, without violence or interruption of its operations.
By the mid-1970s, Mr. Wallace headed the Bituminous Coal Operators. He was chief spokesman in the industry-wide negotiations with the United Mine Workers in 1975.
He lived in Washington in the 1950s and 1980s.
His wife, Frances Helm, died in 2006.
Survivors include a daughter, Lauren Helm of New York.
-- Patricia Sullivan
Anne PersonTeacher's Aide
Anne Person, 93, a teacher and teacher's aide, died of osteomyelitis of the spine Nov. 29 at Halquist Memorial Inpatient Center in Arlington. She lived in Falls Church.
Mrs. Person taught homebound students for the Fairfax County public schools in the 1970s. She then became a teacher's aide and worked for 20 years in Fairfax school programs for the disabled. She retired in 1987.
She was born in Worcester, Mass., and was a graduate of Worcester Teachers College. After World War II, she lived in Northern Virginia until 1958, when she began traveling with her husband, who was in the Foreign Service. They lived in Sweden and South Korea before returning to Northern Virginia in 1970.
She was a member of the Woman's Club of Falls Church, the Quilters of Falls Church and the Washington Seoul Woman's Club. She was also a member of St. James Catholic Church in Falls Church. She enjoyed bridge.
Her husband, Robert Person, died in 1999. A son, David Person, has not been seen by the family in more than 20 years.
Survivors include three daughters, Martha Sowers of Falls Church, Ellen Fox of Essex Junction, Vt., and Mary Hrbacek of New York; and four grandchildren.
-- Patricia Sullivan
William P. Wyatt Jr.Methodist Minister
William Preston Wyatt Jr., 59, a Methodist minister who had worked since July at Montgomery United Methodist Church in Damascus, died Nov. 26 at Howard County General Hospital. He had pancreatic cancer.
Rev. Wyatt, a Columbia resident, had previously served eight years as minister at Chevy Chase United Methodist Church.
He also served at Camp Chapel United Methodist Church in Perry Hall, Md., and Marvin Memorial United Methodist Church in Silver Spring.
Rev. Wyatt was born in Baltimore and graduated in 1970 from Albright College in Reading, Pa. He received a master of divinity degree from United Theological Seminary in Ohio in 1973.
Survivors include his wife of 37 years, Linda Wiley Wyatt of Columbia; three children, Laura Dosch of Orland Hills, Ill., Joshua Wyatt of Columbia and Andrew Wyatt of Morgantown, W.Va.; his mother, Bettie Wyatt of Chase, Md.; two brothers, Greg Wyatt of Fairfield, Pa., and Ron Wyatt of Eldersburg, Md.; and a sister, Janice Strong of Chase.
-- Adam Bernstein
Lowell E. OderArmy Colonel
Lowell E. Oder, 78, a retired Army colonel who served in the Korean and Vietnam wars, died Dec. 4 at Tall Oaks at Reston assisted living community. He had a heart ailment.
Col. Oder, who was commissioned in 1951, commanded a forward artillery unit in Korea and an artillery battalion in Vietnam under the First Cavalry Division. Among his military duties, Col. Oder participated in the development and testing of antiballistic missile technologies.
His awards included the Silver Star, Legion of Merit, Distinguished Flying Cross and Bronze Star.
After his retirement from the Army in 1977, Col. Oder was a program manager at Syscon Corp. in Washington. He retired again in 1990.
Col. Oder was born in Anthony, Kan., and grew up on his parents' farm in Wakita, Okla. He graduated from high school at 16 and attended Wichita State University. He received two bachelor's degrees, one from the University of Nebraska at Omaha and another in engineering from the University of Southern California. In 1970, he received a master's degree in business administration from George Washington University and graduated from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces.
Col. Oder and his family moved to Fairfax County in 1969. In retirement, he tutored students at Quander Road School in Alexandria, drove cancer patients to their treatments for the Red Cross, served as captain of his local neighborhood watch and was a member of the board of directors at the Brandywine Swim Club.
Survivors include his wife of 56 years, G. Rosanne Oder of Fairfax County; four children, Howard Oder of Fairfax County, Stephen Oder of Hagerstown, Md., Leslie Prechtel of Wichita and Lanette Meister of Reston; one brother; nine grandchildren; and one great-grandson.
-- Yvonne Shinhoster Lamb
Anthony Murray LargayInternational Trade Specialist
Anthony Murray Largay, 64, a retired international trade specialist with the Department of Commerce, died Dec. 18 of lung cancer at Mary Washington Hospital in Fredericksburg. He was a College Park resident until moving in 2005 to a house on Lake Caroline in Ruther Glen, Va.
Mr. Largay was born in Philadelphia and served in the Army from 1964 to 1968. He received his undergraduate degree in economics from the University of Maryland in 1970.
He joined the Civil Aeronautics Board in 1970 and worked for 14 years as an economist. In 1984, he became an international economist with the Federal Aviation Authority.
From 1993 until his retirement in 2005, he was the director of aerospace marketing development with the International Trade Administration of the Department of Commerce. He helped organize the U.S. booth at several air shows around the world, including the Paris Air Show from 1985 to 2005 and the Farnborough Air Show in England on several occasions.
Mr. Largay enjoyed world travel, on the job and off. He also enjoyed building and repairing furniture, playing tennis, boating, playing chess and working on cars. During the 1980s and '90s, he coached his daughters' soccer teams.
Survivors include his wife of 27 years, Marie Miller Largay of Ruther Glen; and two daughters, Lisa Marie Jeffries of Burke and Julie Amanda Largay of Charlottesville.
-- Joe Holley
Lewis Rockwell JohnsonResearch Chemist
Lewis Rockwell Johnson, 94, a former research chemist with the Naval Research Laboratory, died of complications from a stroke Dec. 13 at Covenant Medical Center in Westminster, Colo.
Mr. Johnson worked for the research lab from 1946 until he retired in 1974. He lived in Lake Barcroft and Oxon Hill during those years.
He was born in Madison, Wis., and grew up in the Washington area. He graduated from Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School and George Washington University and received a master's degree in chemistry from the University of Wisconsin. He served in the Navy during World War II in stateside posts.
Mr. Johnson enjoyed travel, the arts, literature and classical and jazz music. He moved to Colorado in 2000.
His first wife, Mazie Johnson, died in 1974.
Survivors include his wife, Jean Baker Quick of Westminster; three stepchildren, Kenneth Quick of Columbia, Sharon Quick Collins of Severna Park and Brenda Quick Lee of Louisville, Colo.; a brother; six grandchildren; and a great-granddaughter.
-- Patricia Sullivan
Barbara Neal ZiemsCIA Employee
Barbara Neal Ziems, 74, who worked for the CIA for 21 years, died Dec. 13 of cancer at Bayview Villa, an assisted living facility in San Carlos, Calif. She was a former resident of McLean.
She was born in London and grew up there and in Vermont and Florida. She graduated from Rollins College in Florida and settled in McLean.
She was active in the Republican Party and served as a precinct captain in Fairfax County. In the early 1970s, she was a district manager for the U.S. Census Bureau and co-owned a bookstore in McLean.
At the Central Intelligence Agency, she worked in counternarcotics and counterterrorism and on special projects before retiring in 2003. After retiring, she moved to Benicia, Calif., to be nearer her daughters and grandchildren.
Her marriage to Robert T. Ziems ended in divorce.
Survivors include three children, Gretchen Malara of Folsom, Calif., Charlotte Ziems of Redwood City, Calif., and Robert Ziems of Falls Church; and two grandchildren.
-- Yvonne Shinhoster Lamb