Tuesday, January 1, 2008
C. Isabelle McDonaldSecretary, Volunteer
C. Isabelle McDonald, 90, who worked at Peoples drugstores from the late 1930s to 1953 and left as secretary to the pharmaceutical division chief, died Dec. 25 at the Homewood at Crumland Farms retirement community in Frederick. She had congestive heart failure.
Mrs. McDonald became a Silver Spring homemaker and volunteered in the office at nearby Our Lady of Good Counsel High School. She later settled in Middletown, in Frederick County, before moving to the retirement community in 2002.
Her memberships included St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church and St. Katherine Drexel Catholic Church, both in Frederick, as well as a Middletown seniors organization and the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association.
Clarice Isabelle Latchford was a native Washingtonian and a 1935 graduate of McKinley Technology High School. She attended Strayer secretarial school.
Her husband, Francis A. McDonald, whom she married in 1945, died in 1983.
Survivors include three children, Francine I. Heaton and Mary Ann Rankin, both of Urbana, and Timothy McDonald of Germantown; seven grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren.
-- Adam Bernstein
Katreen M. KorteReal Estate Broker
Katreen M. Korte, 98, founder of Korte Realty in Falls Church, died Dec. 2 at her Falls Church home. She had Alzheimer's disease.
She obtained her real estate agent's license in the early 1950s and worked for real estate agents and brokerages, including C.M. Hailey, the Moncure Agency and Mary Munson, before obtaining her own broker's license in 1965 and opening Korte Realty in Falls Church.
As Fairfax County developed during the 1970s and 1980s, her business brokered sales of homes, office buildings and land. Some of those deals were strategic purchases by parishes and ministries of the Richmond Catholic Diocese, which included Fairfax until 1974.
Mrs. Korte was known for her stylish dress, broad smile, direct manner, negotiating skill and high standard of ethics. She was active in the Falls Church Chamber of Commerce until she was in her mid-80s.
She was an outspoken advocate of commercial development in Falls Church as a means of strengthening its tax base, and she served on the Streetscape Commission that guided the beginnings of the beautification of Broad Street during the 1980s. She retired in 1997.
Mrs. Korte was born and raised in Richmond. She sang in church choirs in Richmond and Williamsburg and at St. James Catholic Church in Falls Church. She lived in Northern Virginia for 57 years.
Her husband, George Walker Korte, died in 1987.
Survivors include three children, Edward Korte of Tucson, Treena Rinaldi of Oakton and George Korte Jr. of Fairfax Station; a sister, Julia Bache of Richmond; nine grandchildren; and 15 great-grandchildren.
-- Patricia Sullivan
Margaret Anita WilliamsCIA Finance Officer
Margaret Anita Williams, 71, who retired from the CIA as a finance officer in 1994, died Dec. 14 of cancer at the Odyssey hospice center in Las Vegas, Nev. A former resident of Vienna, she moved to Henderson, Nev., in 2001.
Mrs. Williams was born in Lansing, Mich., and served in the Air Force as a supply management specialist from 1960 to 1963. She moved to the Washington area in 1970 and worked for the CIA for 20 years. Her work took her to many foreign countries.
Survivors include her husband, Jimmie Williams of Henderson; a son, Richard Williams of Ashburn; a sister; and a granddaughter.
-- Yvonne Shinhoster Lamb
Mary B. WilliamsonVolunteer, Homemaker
Mary B. Williamson, 87, who volunteered with the Arlington Hospital Auxiliary and the Capital Hospice Thrift Shop, died Dec. 27 at her home in Arlington. She had pulmonary fibrosis.
Mrs. Williamson was born in Corpus Christi, Tex., and had lived in the Washington area for nearly 50 years. During World War II, she helped build combat aircraft while her husband was flying the aircraft in the Pacific.
She was an active member of St. Agnes Catholic Church in Arlington.
Her husband of 55 years, Elmer F. Williamson, a naval aviator, died in 1998.
Survivors include seven children, Gerald Williamson of Realitos, Tex., Bruce Williamson of Cocoa Beach, Fla., Rory Williamson of Woodbridge, Esther Noel of Walhalla, S.C., and Dean Williamson, Ian Williamson and Mary Leigh Brewer, all of Arlington; two sisters; two brothers; 15 grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren.
-- Yvonne Shinhoster Lamb
James W. WalkerNASA Employee
James W. Walker, 92, a retired NASA employee, died of an obstruction of the esophagus due to a hernia Dec. 1 at Sibley Memorial Hospital. He lived in Bethesda.
From 1962 to 1976, Mr. Walker worked for NASA on data and tracking systems for space vehicles. He also did projects for the military and the National Security Agency while he was with NASA.
He was born in Atlanta and was raised in Takoma Park and Washington. He graduated from the District's Central High School in 1933 and from the now-defunct Salem College in Westminster, Md., where he studied theology. Mr. Walker joined the Marines after graduation and played the trumpet and piano in the Marine Band.
In 1940, he transferred to the Navy and was assigned to the Naval Surface Weapons Center, where he was posted through World War II. After the war, he worked as a civilian on guidance systems at the old Naval Ordnance Laboratory at White Oak. After NASA was formed, he transferred to that agency.
After retiring from NASA, he invested in real estate. In 1990, he was campaign treasurer for his son, James W. Walker Jr. (D) of Bethesda, who was running for Congress in Maryland's 8th Congressional District.
Mr. Walker owned five motorcycles, including a Harley-Davidson, and rode until he was 85. He also enjoyed target shooting. He was a member of the Izaak Walton League, All Saints Episcopal Church in Chevy Chase and the American Legion.
Survivors, in addition to his son, include his wife of 64 years, Lillian Walker of Bethesda; two daughters, June Walker of Bethesda and Jean Walker of Silver Spring; a sister; and brother.
-- Patricia Sullivan
Albert Austin KnightAudiologist, Business Owner
Albert Austin Knight, 82, a former audiologist and owner of the Washington Hearing Aid Center, died of respiratory failure Dec. 7 at Beverly Manor Nursing Home in Annandale. He lived in Sterling.
Mr. Knight worked at the District-based hearing aid center for about 15 years before he bought it in 1975. He retired in 1990.
A native Washingtonian, Mr. Knight attended Western High School and played Boys Club football before enlisting in the Navy during World War II. He served stateside.
After the war, he married, moved to Northern Virginia and finished his high school degree. He worked as a dental technician before embarking upon a 30-year career of assisting the hearing-impaired.
Mr. Knight loved sports and, in his youth, collected autographs of several Baseball Hall of Fame players, including Walter Johnson of the old Washington Senators.
He also enjoyed politics, bowling and golf. Mr. Knight coached in the Vienna Little League and was president of the Vienna Babe Ruth League.
Survivors include his wife of 62 years, Betty Engel Knight of Leesburg; five children, Jeffrey E. Knight of Washington, Va., Jerome C. Knight of Folsom, Calif., Nancy K. Powell of Vienna, Richard L. Knight of Ashburn and Lina K. Edwards of Smithfield, Va.; a sister; a brother; 19 grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.
-- Patricia Sullivan
Martha Acebo LordUSDA Administrative Assistant
Martha Acebo Lord, 94, an administrative assistant in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, died of a heart attack Dec. 1 at her home in Chevy Chase.
Mrs. Lord worked for the USDA from 1947 to 1979, starting in Mexico City with its program for controlling foot-and-mouth disease in cattle. She returned to Washington in 1953 and worked as a secretary in the office of the secretary of agriculture.
She worked first as a social secretary and became an expert on protocol. She planned receptions and filled in as the secretary's secretary when needed. The USDA Ag Reporter in 1955 described her as "jet-propelled, petite, vocal and volatile."
She traveled with the staff of Secretary of Agriculture Earl Butz on a three-week worldwide trip in 1976, transcribing dictation at night so she could see the sights during the day.
After retirement, she resumed worldwide travel. She was a member of the Catholic Church of the Little Flower in Bethesda, a Bible study group and a regularly scheduled poker game.
She was born in El Paso, sold magazine subscriptions as a teenager and then worked for the Madera Lumber Co. in Chihuahua, Mexico, until it closed. She moved to Washington during World War II and worked for the U.S. Office of Censorship.
Her husband of 35 years, Durrell Lerock Lord, died in 1988.
Survivors include a daughter, Margaret Durrell Lord of Chevy Chase.
-- Patricia Sullivan