Saturday, December 29, 2007; B06

Thomas Morgan IIIJournalist

Thomas Morgan III, 56, a former reporter and editor with The Washington Post and the New York Times and a former president of the National Association of Black Journalists, died Dec. 24 in Southampton, Mass., where he was visiting a friend. He lived in Brooklyn.

He had lived with HIV, which developed into AIDS, for 20 years. He died after a heart attack.

Mr. Morgan was the NABJ's eighth president and the first who was openly gay. During his tenure from 1989 to 1991, the NABJ expanded its student projects to include a broadcast component and established "short courses."

The organization also created the NABJ Hall of Fame while he was president and expanded the Ethel Payne Fellowship for black journalists to do research in Africa.

"He was passionate about journalism and about NABJ," said Vanessa Williams, a Washington Post editor who also served as NABJ president. "He taught us much about tolerance, fairness and courage."

Mr. Morgan was born in St. Louis. After graduating from high school, he accepted an ROTC scholarship to the University of Missouri, where he received an undergraduate degree in journalism in 1973. He served as an Air Force information officer until 1975 and also worked as a social aide in the Nixon and Ford White Houses.

"Tom Morgan was part of an extraordinary group of African American journalists who came out of St. Louis in the '70s and the '80s -- people like Gerald Boyd, George Curry, Patricia Camp Thompson, Marcia Davis, Sheila Rule, Ken Cooper," said Milton Coleman, a deputy managing editor at The Post. "They went on to work for some of the best news organizations in the nation, assumed leadership positions and had an enormous impact on this business."

Mr. Morgan worked for the Miami Herald before joining The Post in 1977. He was a reporter and editor of the newspaper's District Weekly section. Coleman described him as "a great writer, editor and a superb finder and teller of compelling stories who helped to change for the better The Post's coverage of the city and its people, from the ground up."

He joined the New York Times in 1983 and worked as a reporter, editor and employee in the human resources department there. In 1989-90, he was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University.

Mr. Morgan retired in 1995, primarily to concentrate on combating AIDS. He devoted much of his free time to volunteer work as an HIV-AIDS awareness advocate and as a board member for several organizations, including the Gay Men's Health Crisis in Manhattan.

"He was incredibly stubborn, which is the only way he could have gotten through everything he went through with AIDS," said Sheila Stainback, a former New York TV reporter and longtime friend. "He was caring, incredibly supportive -- and stubborn."

Survivors include his partner of 23 years, Tom Ciano of Brooklyn, and three brothers.

-- Joe Holley

Lois Claire Dodd, 92, a former airline employee, died Dec. 16 of congestive heart failure at her home in Reston.

Mrs. Dodd was born in Estherville, Iowa, and attended the University of Sioux Falls in South Dakota.

She taught school until moving to the Washington area, where she took a job with Capital Airlines in 1945. She was with the company, sometimes in managerial positions, through its merger with United Airlines and retired in 1980.

Mrs. Dodd was a crossword puzzle fan, an enthusiastic world traveler and a swimmer. In later years, she was a Red Hat Lady.

Her husband, Leland Dodd, died in 1988.

There are no immediate survivors.

-- Joe Holley

Donald James Fitzgerald, 77, an FBI agent for 28 years, died of cancer Dec. 25 at Baltimore Washington Medical Center in Glen Burnie. He lived in Bowie.

Mr. Fitzgerald was one of the first FBI agents at the scene of the 1972 burglary of the Democratic national headquarters at the Watergate complex.

The five burglars, some of whom spoke Spanish, had been caught at gunpoint by three plainclothes D.C. police officers. The crime scene was determined to be under the city's jurisdiction, so Mr. Fitzgerald and fellow agents left.

He was an FBI linguist during the Cuban missile crisis and often worked in Puerto Rico for the bureau. From the mid-1970s to the early 1980s, he was the FBI's liaison to Capitol Hill. He retired in 1981.

He was born in Yonkers, N.Y., and served in the Marine Corps from 1948 to 1952, with service in Korea. He joined the FBI in 1953 and graduated from Manhattan College three years later.

After retiring, Mr. Fitzgerald was a consultant to the Central Intelligence Agency.

He was a coach for Bowie Boys and Girls Clubs, a member of the Knights of Columbus and a member of the Society of Former Special Agents of the FBI. He was a member of St. Pius X Catholic Church in Bowie for 42 years.

His wife, Carole A. Fitzgerald, died in 1990.

Survivors include six children, Donald Fitzgerald of Pasadena, James Fitzgerald of West Chester, Pa., Carolyn Gabelman of Gambrills, Thomas Fitzgerald of Crofton, John Fitzgerald of Huntingtown and Theresa Santilli of Centreville; two sisters; and 21 grandchildren.

-- Patricia Sullivan

Alice C.G. Hsu, 70, retired assistant division chief with the International Monetary Fund, died Dec. 5 at the Aegis Gardens assisted living facility in Fremont, Calif. She had dementia.

Ms. Hsu began working for the IMF in 1967 as a programmer in the research department. She later worked as a computer systems officer, where she helped computerize the IMF's statistical databases, then rose through the ranks to assistant division chief. She retired in 1995.

She was born in Suzhou, China, and moved to Taipei, Taiwan, in 1954. She graduated from Taichung College of Agriculture, now known as the National Chung-Shing University. She married and in 1962 came to the United States to study computer programming.

Ms. Hsu moved to the Washington area in 1966 and worked for a year as an analyst at Computer Usage and then Computer Science Corp. She became a U.S. citizen in the 1990s.

She was a member of the Bretton Woods Recreation Center; CAREN, an Adelphi-based Chinese American Retirement Enterprise; and the Washington chapter of the FF-Fraternity, an international brotherhood of Chinese academics, professionals and entrepreneurs.

She lived in Silver Spring, Bethesda, Potomac and Rockville before moving to Fremont in 2004. She enjoyed playing mah-jongg, karaoke, reading novels, watching basketball and movies, and traveling.

Survivors include her husband of 45 years, Ronald Hsu, of Pleasanton, Calif.; three children, Lewis Low of Portland, Ore., Walter Hsu of Potomac and Leslie Hsu Besner of Millburn, N.J.; a brother; and seven grandchildren.

-- Patricia Sullivan

Myra "Dell" Singer Strickler, 85, who was a private duty nurse, volunteer and harpist who played for churches and schools in Washington, died Dec. 19 in Phillipsburg, Pa., of a heart attack while en route to a doctor's appointment. She lived in Penfield, Pa.

Mrs. Strickler, a District resident for 50 years before moving in 2000, also played concert harp and was a performing member of National Capital Harp Ensemble in Washington and the Western Pennsylvania Harp Society.

An active volunteer, she gave tours at the Folger Shakespeare Library and provided assistance at WETA public television and the American Red Cross of Prince George's County. She served on the board of trustees of the old Morris Cafritz Memorial Hospital in Washington, which later became Greater Southeast Community Hospital, where she helped establish the gift shop. Earlier, she had raised money to help with the construction of the hospital, her family said.

Mrs. Strickler also was active with cancer research and preventive care projects in Washington and was a longtime volunteer tutor for high school and college students in science, math and nursing.

A native of Penfield, she graduated as one the first female science teachers from Clarion State Teachers College in Pennsylvania in 1947. She taught science in high schools in Pennsylvania and later worked as a medical technologist at Stanford University Hospital in Palo Alto, Calif.

Mrs. Strickler, a registered nurse licensed in Maryland, Pennsylvania and the District, worked for about two years in the 1970s as an occupational health nurse at the National Academy of Sciences. From the 1970s to 1990s, she was a private duty nurse in Washington.

She was a member of Ryland-Epworth Methodist Church in Washington and the National Science Teachers Association.

In her retirement, she designed and supervised construction of an eco-friendly "green" home with 64 windows on her family farm in Penfield.

Survivors include her husband, Mervin K. Strickler Jr. of Penfield, whom she married in 1945; a daughter, Heather Holstine of Frost, W.Va.; and three grandchildren.

-- Yvonne Shinhoster Lamb

Isabella Dickens Fink, 90, an office manager for a Washington funeral home in the 1960s, died of congestive heart failure Dec. 18 at Boca Raton Community Hospital in Boca Raton, Fla. She lived in Boca Raton.

Mrs. Fink was born in the Bronx, N.Y., and moved to the Washington area in 1938 after her marriage. She worked for several local retailers. In the 1960s, she became office manager for the old Bernard Danzansky and Sons funeral home on 14th Street NW. She worked there 10 years.

In 1972, Mrs. Fink moved from Hyattsville to Florida, where she and her husband were among the first residents of the huge Century Village West condominiums in Boca Raton. Mrs. Fink led the development of the condo association and the condo's Democratic Club. She was past member of the Democratic Executive Committee of Palm Beach County and a member of the Florida Silver-Haired Legislature.

Her husband of 50 years, Irvin J. Fink, died in 1988.

Survivors include two children, Martin Fink of Bethesda and Carol Music of Atlanta; two grandchildren; and a great-grandson.

-- Patricia Sullivan

Mary Beth Isaia, 58, a violist who later worked in medical transcription and insurance, died Dec. 14 of pancreatic cancer at the Gilchrist Center for Hospice Care in Towson. She lived in Silver Spring before moving to Jessup seven years ago.

Ms. Isaia was born in Glens Falls, N.Y., and was a music graduate of Potsdam University. After marrying, she performed in symphonies around the world as she traveled with her first husband, who was in the Army Medical Corps.

The family eventually settled in the District, and she dedicated herself to raising her two children. Her marriage to Barney Yanklowitz ended in divorce.

As her children grew, Ms. Isaia became an administrative assistant at Kaiser Permanente and worked there until 2000. She then worked at Concentra, providing medical transcription and processing insurance claims.

She was a member of the National Association of Executive Secretaries and Administrative Assistants.

Ms. Isaia was skilled in floral arranging, quilting, knitting, tatting, embroidery, cross-stitching and sewing. She had a passion for all things artistic, including paintings and music. She loved Hawaii for its natural beauty, color, warmth, sandy beaches and embedded traditions.

Survivors include her husband, Joseph "Freddie" Isaia of Columbia, from whom she was separated; two children from her first marriage, Navy Petty Officer 1st Class CTT1 Daniel Yanklowitz of San Diego and Rachel McCoy of Silver Spring; a brother; a sister; and a grandson.

-- Yvonne Shinhoster Lamb