Obituaries

Her husband, William M. "Bill" Emshwiller, died in 1994.

Survivors include children Arlene Fenlon of Charlotte, William J. "Bill" Emshwiller of Ellicott City, Coby L. Emshwiller of Park City, Utah, Barbara Emshwiller of Alexandria, Carol Dudley of Grasonville, Md., and Nancy Adcock of Olney; two brothers; 15 grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.

-- Joe Holley

Frankie B. Ball Jr.Bethesda School Music Teacher

Frankie Baten Ball Jr., 62, who spent more than 26 years as instrumental music director at Thomas W. Pyle Middle School in Bethesda before retiring last year, died Dec. 21 at his home in Laytonsville. He had metastatic colon cancer.

Mr. Ball spent some of his Pyle career as music department chairman. He was credited with shaping the school's jazz ensemble, concert bands and string orchestra into top-flight groups that regularly won competitions throughout the mid-Atlantic region.

Two hundred former students performed in a tribute concert to Mr. Ball in January 2007. At the time, a Washington Post article about Mr. Ball noted his skill at commanding attention among the rambunctious youngsters under his tutelage with the shout: "Warm up, tune up, sit up and shut up!"

In addition, he founded the Montgomery County school system's junior honors jazz ensemble and directed the orchestra at the People's Community Baptist Church in Silver Spring, where he was a member.

He was a native of Seguin, Tex., where he played trumpet in rhythm and blues groups as well as the high school marching and performing bands.

He was a 1967 graduate of Prairie View A&M University in Texas, where he also received a master's degree in music education in 1974.

He was instrumental music director at schools in Texas and Ohio before joining the faculty at Richard Montgomery High School in Rockville in 1977.

In the D.C. area, he formerly ran two summer sports programs for low-income youths.

His marriage to Bettye Jo Ball ended in divorce.

Survivors include his wife of six years, Marilyn Massey-Ball of Laytonsville.

-- Adam Bernstein

John E. BaconDEA Official

John E. Bacon, 79, who retired from the Drug Enforcement Administration in 1985 and later ran an antiques business, died Jan. 6 of a stroke at Lancaster General Hospital in Lancaster, Pa. He lived in Elizabethtown, Pa.

Mr. Bacon was born in Baltimore and graduated from Loyola College. He received a master's degree in history from Georgetown University and began working for the State Department in the 1950s. He later worked for the CIA in South America and was an analyst, writer and editor.

While with the DEA, he established its intelligence unit. He organized a similar unit at the Maryland State Police, while working there from 1993 to 1997. In retirement, he worked as an editor for the NASA space station program.

He ran an antiques and fine arts business in Baltimore in the late 1980s. He also wrote three books, including a novel about his time in Ecuador in the late 1950s to late 1960s.

Mr. Bacon was a member of the Order of the Cincinnati. He lived in Washington before moving to Pennsylvania in 1990.

His marriage to Jean Bacon ended in divorce. He was preceded in death by a son from that marriage, Francis Bacon, in 1994.

Survivors include his wife, Myra Jelliman Bacon of Baltimore; three sons from his first marriage, John Bacon of Martinsburg, W.Va., Ben Bacon of London and Hayward Bacon of Harpers Ferry, W.Va.; five stepchildren, David Steeves, Pamela Wilson, Stephen Steeves and Shelley Marston, all of Baltimore, and Meghan Freeman of Shawnee, Kan.; seven grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

-- Yvonne Shinhoster Lamb

Theresa R. WurmlingerCIA Security Officer

Theresa Romo Wurmlinger, 50, who had been a Central Intelligence Agency security officer since 1980 and co-owned an antiques business, died Jan. 8 at her home in Vienna. She had breast cancer.

Mrs. Wurmlinger, a member of the Senior Intelligence Service, was assigned to various parts of the CIA, including the Office of the Director of Central Intelligence.

She was born in Pueblo, Colo., and raised in Penrose, Colo. She was a 1979 political science and Spanish graduate of Colorado State University.

She was a longtime antiques collector and aficionado of antique glass. She and a partner owned and operated an antiques business at the Black Shutter Antique Center in Leesburg.

She was a member of Our Lady of Good Counsel Catholic Church in Vienna. She was a former volunteer at Alexandria's Hartwood group house, a cooperative established by families of mentally handicapped persons.

Survivors include her husband of 19 years, Dale P. Wurmlinger of Vienna; her mother, Bertha Romo of Penrose; a sister; and three brothers.

-- Adam Bernstein