Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Peggy Cates BartowHomemaker, Volunteer
Peggy Cates Bartow, 82, a volunteer, investor and Navy wife, died of a stroke Dec. 21 at her Alexandria home.
Mrs. Bartow was a former board member of Goodwill Industries in the Washington area and participated in its embassy tour and book sale. She was on the Alexandria Democratic Committee, was a delegate to the 1976 Democratic Convention and was on the inaugural committee for President Jimmy Carter.
She managed her own stocks and real estate investments. She researched her stock purchases by noticing what people wore, where they ate and what they did. She attended shareholders meetings, which is how she met Microsoft founder Bill Gates. Unable to answer one of her questions at a stockholders meeting, Mr. Gates looked her up later to provide the answer, her husband said.
Mrs. Bartow was a native of Hillsborough, N.C., and graduated from St. Mary's College in Raleigh and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She followed her husband, a naval officer, from post to post across the country for 20 years. After settling in the Washington area in 1963, she enjoyed traveling the world with her husband, children and friends.
She took pride in her English gardens and always had flowers in her home.
Mrs. Bartow played tennis and golf at the Army Navy Country Club, sailed her yacht, the Tar Heel, and was a member of the Old Presbyterian Meeting House in Alexandria.
Survivors include her husband of 60 years, retired Navy Lt. Cmdr. William R. Bartow of Alexandria; three children, Elizabeth "Binnie" Davis of Greensboro, N.C., and William R. Bartow Jr. and Nancy Rybicki, both of Alexandria; six grandchildren; two brothers; a sister; and a great-granddaughter.
-- Patricia Sullivan
Marshall Peyton JohnsonLawyer
Marshall Peyton Johnson, 80, a lawyer who practiced in the District and Maryland from 1954 until 2007, died of lung cancer Dec. 23 at his home in Bethesda.
Mr. Johnson was born in the District, a fifth-generation Washingtonian on his mother's side. He graduated from Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School in 1945 and was drafted into the Army that year. He served in the 88th Division in the occupation in Italy for one year. In 1951, during the Korean War, he was recalled for the summer and served as a drill sergeant at Fort Meade.
He received a bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of Maryland in 1951 and was a member of Phi Delta Theta fraternity. He graduated from George Washington University Law School in 1954.
He practiced general law and real estate law in Washington and Bethesda, and he worked at various times with Edwin Shelton, David S. Scrivener and Joseph A. Rafferty Jr. In the 1970s, he was a counsel for Washington Federal Savings and Loan. In the latter part of his career, he primarily did wills, estates and probate law.
He was a member of the District and Maryland bar associations and the American Bar Association. In 1973, he received an "AV" rating from Martindale-Hubbell, which is the highest peer review ranking an individual lawyer can receive.
Mr. Johnson had a reverence for the law, the Magna Carta and the U.S. Constitution.
He played golf and was a member of Columbia Country Club in Chevy Chase and Farmington Country Club in Charlottesville. He enjoyed reading and history.
Survivors include his wife of 45 years, Katherine Wilson Barton Johnson of Bethesda.
-- Yvonne Shinhoster Lamb
Susan Feil ThorntonChemistry Professor
Susan Feil Thornton, 69, who taught chemistry at Montgomery College for 30 years, died Dec. 22 of a stroke at Shady Grove Adventist Hospital in Rockville.
She was born in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, and received a bachelor's degree in chemistry from Ohio State University in 1960 and a PhD in chemistry from the University of North Carolina in 1964.
She worked at Montgomery College from 1965 to 1968 and then served as an education consultant for the U.S. Agency for International Development in India for two years. In 1971, she began teaching chemistry at Montgomery College in Takoma Park.
Ms. Thornton, a Rockville resident, received two grants from the Maryland State Department of Education to teach elementary teachers how to teach science. She also received an Outstanding Service to Education Award from the Montgomery County public schools for 1987-88.
Her other honors include the Catalyst Award from the Chemical Manufacturers Association in 1989; the Award for Excellence in Science Education from the Maryland Association of Science Teachers in 1990; the Community Service Award from the American Chemical Society in 1992; the Charles L. Gordon Award from the Chemical Society of Washington in 1994; and an Outstanding Contributions to Science Education award from the Maryland Association of Science Teachers in 1999.
She published articles in the Capital Chemist, the newsletter of the Chemical Society of Washington, and co-published a newsletter for Washington area high school chemistry teachers with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for more than 10 years.
Her marriage to Robert Lewis Thornton Sr. ended in divorce.
Survivors include two sons, Robert Lewis Thornton Jr. of Rockville and Christopher Lawrence Thornton of Charleston, S.C.; a brother; and a sister.
-- Yvonne Shinhoster Lamb
Susan duFief BuckinghamGeorgetown Executive Assistant
Susan duFief Buckingham, 54, who spent the past four years as executive assistant to Georgetown University's vice president of mission and ministry, died Jan. 5 at Holy Cross Hospital. She had complications from a brain tumor.
Mrs. Buckingham worked at Georgetown for 15 years, part of the time as executive assistant to the president. She recently began taking classes at Georgetown with the hope of completing an undergraduate degree.
She was born in Bethesda and raised in Potomac. She was a 1972 graduate of the Academy of the Holy Cross in Kensington and received an associate's degree from Montgomery College. She played basketball at both schools and was a girls' basketball coach at Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Church in Potomac in the mid-1970s.
She was a member of St. Raphael Catholic Church in Rockville and the Westleigh Recreation Club in North Potomac, her town of residence.
Her avocations included running.
Survivors include her husband of 32 years, Lewis Y. Buckingham III of North Potomac; four children, Jennifer Koppels of Annapolis, Stephen Buckingham of Washington, William Buckingham of Arlington County and James Buckingham of North Potomac; her parents, John and Susan duFief of Rockville; a brother, John duFief III of Rockville; four sisters, Carol Gonzalez of Olney, Jean Janela of North Potomac, Lee Depont of Rockville and Marie Burkholder of Ashburn; and a grandson.
-- Adam Bernstein
Lawrence C. MillerCapitol Hill Committee Clerk
Lawrence Carl Miller, 91, a clerk for the U.S. House Appropriations Committee from 1946 to 1979, died Jan. 15 at his home in University Park. He had myelofibrosis, a blood disorder.
Mr. Miller's job included editing and preparing bills being considered by the committee.
He was a Chillum native and a graduate of Mount Rainier High School, the University of Maryland and Southeastern University's law school.
He served in the Army Judge Advocate General's Corps in the Pacific theater during World War II.
He was a former president of the Hyattsville Lions Club and a mentor at the Frances Fuchs Early Childhood Center in Beltsville. He was a volunteer with Meals on Wheels and the American Red Cross. For the Red Cross, he drove people in Prince George's County to medical appointments.
He was a recipient of the Prince George's Volunteer Center's volunteer of the year award in 2002.
His was a member of the Terrapin Club, the booster club for University of Maryland athletics. He also was a member of St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in College Park, where he formerly served on the vestry and oversaw the design and installation of stain-glass windows.
His hobbies included gardening and photography, and he participated in the College Park senior bowling league.
His wife, Helen Owens Miller, whom he married in 1941, died in 1993
Survivors include three children, Shirley Thomas of Mount Airy, Janet Miller of Greenbelt and Lawrence Miller Jr. of Gaithersburg; two sisters, Helen Berry of Fairland and Margaret Gerhardt of Calverton; two brothers, Lewis Miller of Tampa and Fritz Miller of Melbourne, Fla.; two grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.
-- Adam Bernstein