Obituaries

Robert MasucciNIH Officer

Robert Maurice Rosario Masucci Sr., 83, former director of logistics at the National Institutes of Health, died of septic shock Jan. 2 at Johns Hopkins Medical Center in Baltimore.

Mr. Masucci worked for NIH from 1977 until he retired in 1990 and played a role in instituting the use of bar codes for all NIH supplies.

He was born in Rochester, N.Y., and served in the Army during World War II, based in the United States. After his discharge, he started a small newspaper in Rochester, the Veterans Chronicle, where he was editor and business manager.

Mr. Masucci graduated from Syracuse University in 1956, and worked at the Griffiss Air Force Base in Rome, N.Y., until he moved to Garrett Park in 1965. He worked first for the Navy as a contracting officer, then at the former federal Renegotiation Board as a financial analyst before joining NIH.

A member of Holy Cross Catholic Church in Garrett Park for 40 years, he was a lead fundraiser, Eucharistic minister, usher, lector, adult acolyte and chair of the capital campaign. He was named the church's 1994 volunteer of the year, and in 1998 received the archdiocesan Medal of Merit for Faithful Service. He also was a supporter of the Make-a-Wish Foundation.

Survivors include his wife of 57 years, Rose Fiore Masucci of Garrett Park; four children, Cynthia Kratz, Dr. Elaine Martin and Loretta Bonner, all of Garrett Park, and Robert Masucci of Potomac; and 16 grandchildren.

-- Patricia Sullivan

Lawrence S. HousePersonnel Management Specialist

Lawrence S. House, 80, a personnel management specialist for several federal agencies and a model train buff, died Jan. 25 of congestive heart failure at Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring.

Mr. House, a Silver Spring resident, was born in Ellicott City and graduated from McKinley High School in the District. Hoping to serve in the military during World War II, he lied about his age and managed to get into the Merchant Marine in 1945, serving in the Pacific. He also served in the Army during the Korean War.

After the war, he went to work as a personnel management specialist for several private companies and graduated in 1963 by attending night school at George Washington University.

He became a federal employee in the late 1950s, first with the Navy Department and later with the U.S. Agency for International Development and the General Services Administration. He retired in the late 1970s.

In retirement, Mr. House amassed one of the finest model train collections on the East Coast. An expert on antique toy trains, he was active for many years in the Train Collectors Association, serving as board member, vice president and president of the organization's eastern division. He was a member of the Antique Toy Collectors of America.

Mr. House enjoyed landscaping as well as reading and poetry.

His marriage to Edith House ended in divorce.

Survivors include his wife of 46 years, Marie Terry House of Silver Spring; three children, Amy House Flood of Allen, Tex., Holly House Lincoln of Berkeley, Calif., and Michael C. House of Hershey, Pa.; and eight grandchildren.

-- Joe Holley

Eleanor P. HeldVolunteer

Eleanor P. Held, 87, a volunteer and H&R Block employee, died Jan. 24 at the Sunrise assisted living facility in Falls Church, where she lived. She had Alzheimer's disease.

Mrs. Held worked for the tax preparation firm from the mid- to the late 1970s. She volunteered with the Girl Scouts, her children's schools, Lewinsville Presbyterian Church in McLean and Inova Fairfax Hospital.

She was born in Dallas Township, Pa. She was a graduate of Bucknell Junior College and Bucknell University. She joined the Navy's Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES) in World War II. She was sent to Smith and Radcliffe colleges as part of the V-12 program, which trained military officers. She was based at Lewisburg, Pa., for most of the war.

After her military service, she married and became a homemaker and volunteer. She had lived in the Washington area since 1950.

Her husband, Walter G. Held, died in 2002.

Survivors include three daughters, Gale A. Held of Kensington, Suzanne H. Podhorecki of Annandale and Barbara H. McGoldrick of Montgomery Village; and five grandchildren.

-- Patricia Sullivan

Johnnie Vernon Haselby Sr.Air Force Officer

Johnnie Vernon Haselby Sr., 88, a World War II pilot and retired Air Force lieutenant colonel, died Jan. 26 of pneumonia at Baltimore Washington Medical Center in Glen Burnie. He lived in Camp Springs.

Col. Haselby was born in Grass Creek, Ind. After high school, he worked as a dairy farmer for four years before pursuing his dream of flying. Volunteering as an aviation cadet for the Army Air Corps, he was commissioned a second lieutenant in 1942 and assigned to the 33rd Fighter Group. He flew P-40 Warhawk fighters.

During World War II, he served with the 37th Fighter Squadron in North Africa and received the Distinguished Flying Cross with seven oak-leaf clusters and the Purple Heart. He returned to the United States in 1943 and served as an instructor in the P-47 Thunderbolt, preparing pilots for duty with the Eighth Air Force in Europe.

During a 26-year career in the Air Force, Col. Haselby was assigned to a variety of training and recruiting positions at bases in the United States. He was also stationed at Kadena Air Base on Okinawa and Rhein-Main Air Base in Frankfurt, Germany, where he was vice air commander of the military postal system. In addition to the two fighter planes, he flew the C-47 Dakota and the F-86 Sabre jet.

After retiring in 1967, he owned and operated a Radio Shack in Bowie. After retiring again in 1979, he volunteered as a tax aide for the AARP. He was an avid reader.

A daughter, Cheryl Blunt, died in 2005.

Survivors include his wife of 64 years, Marjorie Haselby of Gambrills; two children, Barbara Lynard of Crofton and John Haselby Jr. of Arlington County; two sisters; a brother; six grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.

-- Joe Holley

Clare WrightHomemaker

Clare Marie Gabriel Sibley Wright, 76, a homemaker and former Northern Virginia resident, died Jan. 19 of urosepsis at Halifax Medical Center in Daytona Beach, Fla.

Mrs. Wright was born in Arlington and graduated from Washington-Lee High School in 1949. She married shortly after high school and was a homemaker for many years. She was a Defense Department secretary from the late 1970s until she retired in 1988.

Mrs. Wright enjoyed silk flower arranging, bowling, gardening, refinishing furniture and shopping for antiques. She moved from Alexandria to Weems, Va., in 1998 and to Daytona Beach in 2006.

Her marriage to Richard K. Sibley ended in divorce.

An infant child, James Sibley, died in 1967. Her second husband, John W. Wright, died in 2004.

Survivors include three children from her first marriage, Linda Sibley of Daytona Beach, Michael Sibley of Chaska, Minn., and Susan Rubel of Lorton; four brothers; and five grandchildren.

-- Joe Holley