Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Pembroke J. HartGeophysicist
Pembroke J. Hart, 79, a retired geophysicist at the National Academy of Sciences, died Feb. 6 of complications from a stroke at Capital Hospice in Arlington County. He lived in Washington.
Dr. Hart was born in Evanston, Ill., and grew up in Nashville. He graduated from Harvard University in 1950 and received a master's degree and doctorate in geophysics from Harvard in 1952 and 1955, respectively.
As a postdoctoral fellow in the department of terrestrial magnetism at the Carnegie Institution in Washington in the 1950s, he helped develop ways of examining the Earth's crust by measuring seismic waves generated by explosions set off by the U.S. Navy.
He also served in the Army Ordnance Corps and was a geology instructor at Vanderbilt University.
In 1958, Dr. Hart became a staff officer at the National Academy of Sciences and helped coordinate programs associated with that year's International Geophysics Year, which led to decades of scientific projects.
He also participated in research programs to study the Earth's mantle and crust and was active in such scientific efforts as the International Geodynamics Project and the International Lithosphere Program.
Dr. Hart was a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and of the Geological Society of America and received many awards for his work. In 1995, he was elected a lifetime member of the International Commission on the Lithosphere.
In 1963, a geographical feature in Antarctica -- the Hart Hills -- was named in his honor.
To aid in his international scientific research, Dr. Hart became fluent in Russian. He received the 2006 Edward A. Flinn III Award of the American Geophysical Union.
His wife of 27 years, Grace Marshall Hart, died in 2004.
Survivors include two sisters, Alice Cortner of Clarksville, Tenn., and Page Boteler of Rockville.
-- Matt Schudel
Kenneth Wayne KernTitle Company Owner
Kenneth Wayne Kern, 47, who founded several real estate title companies in Northern Virginia, died Feb. 2 of a heart attack at his home in Leesburg.
Mr. Kern began his career in the 1980s as a recording clerk and opened his first business, Titlestar, in his mid-20s. He later founded Fairfax Title and Abstract Inc. and Realtors Settlement Inc.
From 2000 until early last year, he was a partner in another title company, Mica Inc., in Fairfax County.
Mr. Kern was born in Alexandria and was raised in Annandale by his aunt and uncle, Roger and Evelyn Starkey. He was a standout running back at Annandale High School and attended Ferrum College in Ferrum, Va. He played semiprofessional football in Washington and Northern Virginia for years.
He lived in Fairfax County before moving several months ago to Leesburg.
His marriage to Joan Kern ended in divorce.
Survivors include three children, Logan Kern, Cody Kern and Tanner Kern, all of Leesburg; and the aunt who raised him, Evelyn Starkey of Woodbridge.
-- Matt Schudel
Frank Miller ReynoldsGovernment Administrator
Frank Miller Reynolds, 91, a government administrator who worked at several agencies before retiring from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, died Jan. 13 at the Grand Oaks senior living residence in Washington. He had heart disease.
Mr. Reynolds was born in Tulsa and graduated from the University of Oklahoma law school in 1939. He then moved to Washington in 1940 to join the Social Security Board.
He served in the Navy as an electrical engineer. After World War II, he worked as a civilian with the Navy's Office of General Counsel, the Office of Naval Research and the Office of the Secretary of Defense. He left the Pentagon in 1954 and worked with the Institute for Defense Analyses and was an officer and vice president of the Logistics Management Institute.
He returned to government service in 1976 and was director of administration for the Uniformed Services University for two years before retiring.
He then became director of patient relations at Sibley Memorial Hospital and a consultant with the National Executive Service Corps and the United Seniors Health Cooperative.
Mr. Reynolds also graduated from George Washington University's law school and Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service. He was a lecturer in management research at GWU's School of Engineering.
For several years, Mr. Reynolds was a member of the Navy Bureau of Ordnance's pistol team and achieved national ranking. He was an avid traveler and golfer, and he was a member of Congressional Country Club and a loyal fan of the Oklahoma Sooners. He enjoyed playing the piano and listening to big band music.
Mr. Reynolds, a former Potomac resident, was one of the original members of St. Francis Episcopal Church in Potomac and for several years was a member of the vestry and the choir.
His wife, Barbara Grey MacWilliams Reynolds, died in 1988.
Survivors include three children, Susan Polinsky of Arlington County and Trenton, S.C., Ellen Maldonado of Arlington and Frank Reynolds of Rockville; and one granddaughter.
-- Yvonne Shinhoster Lamb
Dorothy O'Blines RobinsonLittle League Baseball Coach
Dorothy Frances Juanita O'Blines Robinson, 69, who worked as a juvenile corrections officer in 1980s and coached baseball for Arlington Little League, died Jan. 25 of cardiac arrest at Reston Hospital.
Mrs. Robinson, who was known as Dottie, was at her best when she was working with or helping children, her family said.
During her five years as a juvenile corrections officer in Alexandria, it was not unusual for her to open her home to troubled youths without strong family support systems.
"Our family became their familial support, and she would not give up on any one of them, even those who returned to former bad habits," said her daughter, Michelle Robinson Boykins of Herndon.
"She believed in the good in all people, especially children."
Mrs. Robinson was born in Cambridge, Mass., and left her home town after marrying. She traveled around the world with her military husband to bases in Germany and France. During this time, she cultivated a love for coaching youth baseball. A mother of six, she also was a den mother, Cub Scout leader and Girl Scouts helper, and served as a youth advocate on several military bases over the years.
She settled in Arlington County in the late 1970s, where she lived for more than 25 years. She was the first female baseball coach for Arlington Little League and was inducted into its Hall of Fame in 2001.
Her marriage to Howard E. Robinson ended in divorce.
She was a member of St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church in Falls Church.
A son, Randal Robinson, died in 2000.
In addition to her daughter, survivors include four other children, Pamela O'Blines of Glassboro, N.J., Wanda Robinson Satterfield of Herndon, Phillip Robinson of Fairfax County and Edouard Robinson of Arlington; a sister; a brother; four grandsons; and one great-grandson.
-- Yvonne Shinhoster Lamb
Margaret Stancil SellersExecutive Secretary
Margaret Stancil Sellers, 80, an executive secretary who worked for Energy Secretary James R. Schlesinger and other federal officials, died Jan. 12 of septicemia and multiple organ failure at Inova Fairfax Hospital. She was an Annandale resident.
Mrs. Sellers was born in Wilson, N.C., and was reared on a tobacco farm. After graduating from high school, she moved to Washington shortly after World War II to work for the federal government. Starting in the secretarial pools, she worked for a number of agencies, including the former Department of Health, Education and Welfare, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the office of the attorney general. She also took classes at Strayer Business School.
She worked for key federal executives, including Martin R. Hoffmann, who was general counsel at the Defense Department from 1974 to 1975 and secretary of the Army from 1975 to 1977. He praised her "boundless energy and high standards of character."
In 1977, she worked for Schlesinger when he was selected by President Jimmy Carter to be the nation's first secretary of energy. Schlesinger noted her "knack for getting things done."
Mrs. Sellers retired from federal service in 1979 and worked briefly in the private sector before returning to North Carolina. She returned to Washington and worked for Schlesinger at Lehman Brothers from 1989 to 2001, when she retired again for health reasons.
She was a member of St. Michael Catholic Church in Annandale and of the Top Side Club, a select group of secretaries who worked for top executives in government and the private sector. A lover of the arts, she enjoyed music and theater, especially at the Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall and Arts Center at Northern Virginia Community College in Alexandria. She also loved animals.
Mrs. Sellers's marriage to Lloyd Sellers ended in divorce.
Survivors include a daughter, Margaret "Marty" Sellers of North Grosvenordale, Conn.; and a brother and sister.
-- Joe Holley
William Frederick BurnettFBI Employee
William Frederick Burnett, 87, a retired employee of the Federal Bureau of Investigation who was involved in early computer operations, died Jan. 31 of complications from prostate cancer at his Garrett Park residence.
Mr. Burnett was born in Harrisburg, Ill. He initially worked for the FBI from 1941 to 1943, before receiving his undergraduate degree from Culver-Stockton College in Canton, Mo., in 1943. After serving in the Marine Corps in the Pacific theater during World War II, he rejoined the FBI in 1946.
Mr. Burnett worked in the First Identification Division, where he was involved in the development of automated systems of fingerprint identification. The bureau's systems evolved during the course of his career from punch cards to computerized operations. He retired in 1975 as supervisor of computer operations.
A Garrett Park resident since 1962, he was an avid golfer, a Redskins fan and a member of the old Washingtonian Country Club. He also was an enthusiastic member of a monthly eating club called the ROMEOs ("Retired Old Men Eating Out").
Mr. Burnett's wife of 60 years, Mary Jefferson Burnett, died in 2003.
Survivors include a sister.
-- Joe Holley
Robert N. Warren Jr.C&P Foreman Supervisor
Robert N. Warren Jr., 88, a foreman supervisor for C&P Telephone Co., died of cancer Jan. 29 at Homewood Retirement Community in Williamsport, Md.
Mr. Warren, a former Kensington resident, worked for C&P from 1950 to 1978, starting as a linesman.
He was born in Cambridge, Md., and enlisted in the Navy after high school, serving as an electrician. He was discharged, then reenlisted during World War II. He served in the Pacific theater and was a member of the Sino-American Cooperative Organization, a joint military effort between the United States and the Chinese Nationalist forces, which taught the Chinese how to infiltrate the Japanese, wiretap phone lines and intercept radio transmissions.
After the war, Mr. Warren moved to the Washington area and worked for the telephone company. He was a member of St. Paul's United Methodist Church in Kensington, where he was Sunday School superintendent and Boy Scout troop leader. He was also a lifetime member of the Masons.
In 1978, he and his wife moved to Charles Town, W.Va., where Mr. Warren served on the Jefferson County Planning Commission and taught AARP classes on how aging affects driving.
His wife of 54 years, Betty Elaine Robey Warren, died in 1999. Mr. Warren moved to Williamsport in 2005.
Survivors include two children, Mary Lee Nielsen of Plano, Tex., and Steven Warren of Kensington; four grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.
-- Patricia Sullivan
Connie Mae ChiakaHome Health-Care Provider
Connie Mae Chiaka, 59, who was a home health-care provider, died Jan. 19 at the Sligo Creek Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Takoma Park. She had diabetes.
Ms. Chiaka, who lived in Capitol Heights, was born in Washington and attended Eastern High School. She worked for the U.S. Department of Labor. She was in home health-care nursing for about 15 years.
Marriages to Lynwood Strayhorn and Sundie Chiaka ended in divorce.
Survivors include two children from her first marriage, Lynwood Strayhorn of Silver Spring and Bernice Strayhorn of Hyattsville; her mother, Bernice Blunt of Alexandria; two brothers, James Blunt and Robert Blunt, both of Alexandria; three sisters, Bernice Kinrelere of Hyattsville, Marsha Flemings-Clay of Capitol Heights and Sandra Thomas of Alexandria; four grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.
-- Yvonne Shinhoster Lamb
John W. McConnell Jr.Lawyer
John W. McConnell Jr., 86, who practiced law for 14 years in the Washington offices of Haight, Gardner, Poor and Havens before retiring in 1991, died of congestive heart failure Jan. 29 at Richland Rehabilitation Center in Nashville.
Mr. McConnell was a native of Bessemer, Ala., and a 1942 graduate of the University of Alabama. He served in the Army in Europe during World War II and graduated from Yale Law School in 1948.
After law school, he moved to Mobile, Ala., and became partner in the law firm of Ambrecht, Jackson, McConnell and DeMouy. In 1963, Mr. McConnell was a plaintiff and attorney in Reynolds v. Sims, the case that resulted in the 1964 landmark "one man, one vote" ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court.
He joined the Peace Corps in 1965 and lived with his family in Nigeria for three years. After returning to the United States, he became vice president and general counsel for Sea Land Shipping and played a role in the development of the company's containerized shipping method.
He retired from practicing law in Washington and moved with his wife to Charleston, S.C. After his wife of 62 years, Margaret McConnell, died in 2006, he moved to Nashville, where a daughter lives.
Survivors include four children, Margaret Evans of New York City, Rebecca Braden of Nashville, Catherine McConnell of Florence, Ala., and John W. McConnell of Washington; two brothers, James M. McConnell of Arlington County and Walter S. McConnell of Asheville, N.C.; six grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.
-- Yvonne Shinhoster Lamb
Guy R. SmithMontgomery County Principal
Guy Raymond Smith, 80, a Montgomery County principal who retired in 1980 from Francis Scott Key Middle School in Rockville, died Jan. 22 at Vantage House retirement community in Columbia. He had non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
Mr. Smith spent about five years at Key. He began his career in the early 1950s, teaching biology, English and history at Richard Montgomery High School in Rockville.
He later was assistant principal at the old Broome Junior High School in Rockville and Gaithersburg Middle School and principal at Parkland Junior High School in Rockville.
He was a native of Hurlock, on Maryland's Eastern Shore, and a 1950 graduate of Western Maryland College (now McDaniel College). He received a master's degree in education from the University of Maryland.
He served in the U.S. Merchant Marine from 1945 to 1947 and saw combat as an Army platoon leader during the Korean War.
In retirement, he traveled throughout North America and Europe.
Survivors include his wife of 56 years, Peggy Timmons Smith of Columbia; two children, Laura E. Smith of Ellicott City and Michael B. Smith of Columbia; three sisters; and a grandson.
-- Adam Bernstein