Obituaries

Marian Ferris McKimmieHomemaker

Marian Ferris McKimmie, 90, a homemaker, died Feb. 26 of cardiopulmonary disease at the Virginian, a retirement community in Fairfax.

She was born in the District in the home her family, proprietors of the Ferris Ice Co., had owned since the Civil War. She raised her own family in the house until 1957, when she moved to Prince George's County. She also lived in Capital Heights, Upper Marlboro, Rockville and Vienna before moving to Fairfax in 2003.

Except for a brief period of employment with Palais Royale, a District department store, she was a homemaker. "Her home, her husband and her kids meant everything to her," a son said.

Her husband, John McKimmie Jr., died in 1972. A daughter, Joyce Thompson, died in 1992.

Survivors include three children, John McKimmie III of Lothian, Warren McKimmie of Harpers Ferry, Va., and Kathy Voorhis of Vienna; nine grandchildren; and 22 great-grandchildren.

-- Joe Holley

Mabel Irene Conley BarrowsTutor, Ambassador's Wife

Mabel Irene Conley Barrows, 97, a tutor and Foreign Service wife, died of multiple organ failure Feb. 24 at Suburban Hospital in Bethesda.

Mrs. Barrows tutored from 1969 until 1999 in English and mathematics, first for the Kingsbury Center in Washington and later on a freelance basis. She also devoted time to the French Group of the American Association of Foreign Service Wives.

She was born in Cleveland, Kan., attended Fort Hays State Teachers College and graduated from the University of Kansas, where she also received a master's degree in world literature in 1935. She was a member of Phi Beta Kappa.

After marrying, she moved to the Washington area, where she worked in secretarial positions in the federal government, including as confidential secretary to the chairman of the Civil Service Board.