Obituaries

Arnold W. Laidig Jr.Army Public Affairs Officer

Arnold W. Laidig Jr., 63, a retired Army lieutenant colonel who was a public affairs officer during his 28-year military career, died of cancer Jan. 1 at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. He was an Alexandria resident.

Col. Laidig was born in Estherville, Iowa, and was drafted into the Army in 1966 while a student at the University of Iowa and served two tours in Vietnam. He graduated from the University of Iowa in 1972 and received a master's degree from Texas A&M University in 1976.

He was a field artilleryman early in his military career before becoming a public affairs officer. He served at Fort Sill, Okla.; Fort Lewis, Wash.; and Fort Bliss, Tex.; as well as in Pirmasens, Germany; San Antonio; Frankfurt, Germany; and at the Pentagon.

His most recent assignments were as chief of the professional development branch for Army Public Affairs and as director of media operations for the U.S. Central Command in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, during Operation Desert Storm. He also served as a public affairs officer for the Army Criminal Investigation Command in Arlington and the Army Military District of Washington at Fort McNair.

After retiring from the Army in 1995, he joined the staff of MPRI, a defense and security contracting company based in Alexandria, where he served for 10 years as the deputy to the senior vice president of human resources. He was an MPRI recruiter for former military employees.

Col. Laidig was a runner who competed in a number of marathons in the United States and Germany. He also loved gardening and backyard barbecuing.

Survivors include his wife of 35 years, Judy Laidig of Alexandria, and a brother.

-- Joe Holley

Rose Kaplan Sacks MerronApparel Shop Owner

Rose Kaplan Sacks Merron, 95, who owned apparel shops in Maryland and the District, died Dec. 31 of respiratory failure at her home in Riderwood Village in Silver Spring.

Mrs. Merron was born in Chattanooga, Tenn., and moved to the Washington area at 18 to work in the millinery department at Hecht's department store. During World War II, she worked in ordnance production at the Washington Navy Yard.