Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Pauline 'Polly' McCoskeyArtist
Pauline "Polly" McCoskey, 79, a commercial artist, died of a stroke Feb. 22 at Montgomery General Hospital in Olney. She was a Rockville resident.
Mrs. McCoskey was a self-employed artist for her entire adult life, working with paint, sculpture and mixed media.
She won an award in a Montgomery Mall art show in 1979 and discussed her work in 2006 at the Brookside Gardens' Spring Conservatory Display and Sculpture Show.
Born in Arizona, she moved to Takoma Park as a child in the mid-1930s. She graduated from Coolidge High School and Bucknell University. She was a member of Warner Memorial Presbyterian Church, the Women's Club of Chevy Chase, Manor Country Club and the Rockville Art League.
Her husband of 54 years, Robert McCoskey, died in 2005.
Survivors include two sons, Bill McCoskey of Taneytown and John McCoskey of Derwood; and two grandchildren.
-- Patricia Sullivan
William C. StewartCIA Officer
William C. Stewart, 86, a CIA officer for 25 years who later taught English as a second language in Arlington, died of congestive heart failure Feb. 14 at Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital in Albany, Ga. A former Vienna resident, he moved to Albany in 2001.
Mr. Stewart, who was known as Bill, had overseas assignments in Germany and Vietnam for the CIA before retiring in 1976.
He received a master's degree in linguistics from American University in 1978. He then enjoyed teaching English as a second language to students of many nationalities through an Arlington County program for four years.
Mr. Stewart was born in Valentine, Neb., where he was valedictorian of his high school class. He served in the Navy during World War II and afterwards graduated cum laude from Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service.
He was a member of Our Lady of Good Counsel Catholic Church in Vienna and the American Legion.
For many years before moving to Albany, he spent summers in Fredericksburg and the rest of the year in Fort Myers, Fla.
Survivors include his wife of 61 years, Elizabeth B. Stewart of Albany; four children, Jay Stewart of Asheville, N.C., Deborah Naquin of Ashburn, Patty Underdahl of Albany and Helen Banks of Calabasas, Calif.; three sisters, including his twin; a brother; and five grandchildren.
-- Yvonne Shinhoster Lamb
Michael Dean GarrettPhoto Lab Owner
Michael Dean Garrett, 55, who owned a photography laboratory in Washington for nearly 20 years, died of cancer Feb. 18 at his home in Vienna.
Mr. Garrett worked for about three years at National Geographic magazine before founding Garrett Lab in Washington in 1979. He closed his lab in 1998, and during the transition from film laboratories to digital, he was a technician in the photography lab at U.S. News & World Report. He retired in 2005.
He was born in Kansas City, Mo., and had lived in the Washington area since 1954. He graduated from Herndon High School and attended the University of Miami.
Mr. Garrett, who went by Mike, enjoyed taking pictures as well as printing them, especially wildlife and sports shots.
He served as president for six terms and was the outgoing president of the Capitol Area Photo Lab Association (CAPLA).
Survivors include his wife of 33 years, Helen A. Garrett of Vienna; two children, Sarah G. Garrett and Ian Douglas Garrett, both of Vienna; his parents, Lucy and Bill Garrett of Great Falls; and a brother, Kenneth Garrett of Broad Run.
-- Yvonne Shinhoster Lamb
Thelma Mae WrightRed Cross Volunteer
Thelma Mae Wright, 97, a career volunteer with the Red Cross who supervised the sewing production room where foreign ambassadors' wives made clothing items for use in local hospitals, died of pneumonia Feb. 24 at her home at the Residences at Thomas Circle in Washington.
Mrs. Wright, who volunteered with the Red Cross for more than 40 years, guided the women in how to cut patterns and make booties and robes. She volunteered there every week until 1992.
She received the Red Cross D.C. Chapter's Volunteer of the Year award in 1989.
Mrs. Wright also volunteered as an information specialist at the Smithsonian Institution for 22 years and after achieving emeritus status was often called upon for special projects, said a family friend, Donald Morency.
A native of Ramona, Okla., she attended the University of Central Oklahoma.
She married and moved to Portland, Ore., where she began volunteering with the Red Cross. The couple lived in San Francisco and Los Angeles before settling in Washington in 1967.
Her husband of 59 years, Paul H. Wright, died in 1992.
Mrs. Wright was a "big sports nut. She knew everything about sports . . . baseball and football," said Morency. "She could name players and stats."
She leaves no immediate family survivors.
-- Yvonne Shinhoster Lamb
Charles Joseph IppolitoArmy Officer, IBM Manager
Charles Joseph Ippolito, 87, a retired Army officer and IBM manager, died Feb. 28 at Suburban Hospital in Bethesda of complications of pneumonia. He was a Germantown resident.
Mr. Ippolito was born in Fitchburg, Mass., and grew up in the Bronx, N.Y. During World War II, he led an Army tank force that captured Dillingen on the Danube, a key river crossing, thus allowing Allied forces to continue advancing into Germany in 1945.
An April 22, 1945, issue of the Beachhead News described what happened: "Led by Lt. Charles J. Ippolito's light tank platoon, the force swept into the town with guns blazing, routing more than 1,000 disorganized defenders and shooting up a retreating mechanized column.
Surging on to the bridge, the unit captured a handful of demolition men and drove other Nazis away with tank fire before the span could be blown."
Mr. Ippolito received the Silver Star for his actions at Dillingen. He also received the Bronze Star with Oak Leaf Cluster and the Purple Heart. At a recent reunion of the 12th Armored Cavalry, known as the "Hellcats," a Holocaust survivor offered his gratitude to Mr. Ippolito for his rescue from a concentration camp by Mr. Ippolito's platoon.
Mr. Ippolito stayed in the Army after the war and was stationed at bases in Japan and Germany, as well as in the United States. He also served in Vietnam and at the Pentagon, where he retired as a lieutenant colonel in 1963.
After his retirement from the Army, he graduated from the University of Maryland in 1967 and began a second career with IBM. He was a systems analyst and then a configuration manager before retiring again in 1989.
He was head trustee of Washington Grove United Methodist Church and a member of the IBM "Lunch Bunch." He belonged to the 12th Armored Division Association (43rd Tank Battalion) and was a past commander of VFW Post 9863 in Germantown.
Mr. Ippolito's first wife, Edna Dorothy Knack Ippolito, died in 1998.
Survivors include his wife of eight years, Claudette Tucker Ippolito of Germantown, whom he met while both were doing their daily mall walking for exercise; four children from his first marriage, Charles Joseph Ippolito Jr. of Ellicott City, John Bruce Ippolito of Easton, Md., Carol Ann Collins of Charles Town, W.Va., and Robert Allen Ippolito of Damascus; a stepson from his second marriage, Jeffrey Tucker of Waynesboro, Pa.; a sister; 12 grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren.
-- Joe Holley
Gertrude Doherty BerlewHomemaker, Volunteer
Gertrude Doherty Berlew, 90, a homemaker and volunteer, died of hypertensive cardiovascular disease at the Jordan Oaks retirement home in Cary, N.C. She previously lived in Rockville.
Mrs. Berlew, who had come to the Washington area in 1939, did volunteer work at the National Lutheran Home in Rockville and was a member of Crusader Lutheran Church in Rockville.
She was born in Kansas City, Mo., and graduated from Northeast Business College in her home town. She moved to Washington in 1939 to work as a secretary in the business division of the Census Bureau. She left after five years to marry and start a family.
Her husband of 62 years, William A. Berlew, died in 2004.
Survivors include four children, Stephen Berlew and Valerie Berlew Barbour, both of Cary, Bonnie Berlew Delmar of Gaithersburg and Kim Berlew Kovacic of Herndon; 12 grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.
-- Patricia Sullivan
Mary Burke Babcock SchuweilerReston Volunteer
Mary Burke Babcock Schuweiler, 83, a former Reston homemaker and volunteer, died Feb. 29 at Inova Fairfax Hospital of a brain hemorrhage and a massive stroke. She lived most recently in Springfield.
Mrs. Schuweiler was born in Wisconsin Rapids, Wis., and studied at the University of Wisconsin before marrying and moving to the Washington area in the late 1940s. She settled in Reston in 1979.
She was an active volunteer with the Virginia chapter of PEO, a philanthropic organization that provides financial support for young women attending college. She was twice elected president.
She also did volunteer work at Inova Fairfax Hospital and with the League of Women Voters and other community service organizations.
Survivors include her husband of 63 years, Melvin L. Schuweiler of Springfield; three children, Mark L. Schuweiler of Bluemont, Robert C. Schuweiler of Kent, Wash., and Mary Suzanne Schuweiler-Daab of Spartanburg, S.C.; a brother; four grandchildren; and a great-granddaughter.
-- Joe Holley