Sunday, April 6, 2008
Frank VollmerhausenConstruction Inspector
Frank Vollmerhausen, 83, who worked in construction for 30 years and who was a construction inspector for the Howard County school district, died of an intestinal blockage March 31 at Baltimore Washington Medical Center. He lived in Savage.
Mr. Vollmerhausen worked for Stubbs Construction in Bethesda for most of his career until 1974 when he became a construction inspector for the schools. He retired a second time in 1989.
He was born in Savage and served in the Army during World War II. He operated a bulldozer in the construction of roads, jetties and bridges with an engineering brigade in the Pacific theater.
He was a member of St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church in Columbia, the Savage Volunteer Fire Company, the VFW Post 7472 and the American Legion.
A skilled woodworker, he made furniture, clocks, toys, trucks and could reproduce many products from advertisements. He repaired antiques for several businesses at the Savage Mill antiques mall.
Mr. Vollmerhausen enjoyed NASCAR, bluegrass music, gardening and fishing. He volunteered to talk about local history to schoolchildren and was grand marshal in the 1999 Savage Fest Parade.
His wife of 46 years, Evelyn Vollmerhausen, died in 1992.
Survivors include his wife of 13 years, Gladys Vollmerhausen of Savage; four children, Luanne Rushing of Woodbine, Bud Vollmerhausen of Deale, Seibert Vollmerhausen of Savage and Edwin Vollmerhausen of Elkridge; two stepdaughters, Kelli Cook of Gloucester, Va., and Bonnie Ayers of Germantown; a half-sister, Betty Lou Bassler of Columbia; a step-brother, Leslie Whitehead of Ellicott City; 12 grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.
-- Patricia Sullivan
Lewis Harold BunkerFBI Special Agent
Lewis Harold Bunker, 89, a former FBI special agent and vice president of security for Riggs National Bank, died of cancer April 2 at the Wilson Health Care Center at Asbury Methodist Village in Gaithersburg, where he lived.
Mr. Bunker was with the FBI for 25 years, working in Newark, Cincinnati and Detroit before moving to Bethesda in 1957. He retired in 1969 and joined Riggs, retiring a second time in 1984. He moved to Gaithersburg in 2005.
He enjoyed gardening, woodworking, reading and golfing. He was a member of the Kenwood Golf and Country Club and National Presbyterian Church. He was also a member of the Society of Former Special Agents of the FBI.
Survivors include his wife of 65 years, Hazel Marion Bunker of Gaithersburg; four children, Barbara Williams of Montgomery Village, Marilyn Bunker Quinn of Olathe, Kan., Donald Lewis Bunker of Lewisville, N.C., and Deborah Cheryl Bunker of Bethesda; and 10 grandchildren.
-- Patricia Sullivan
Susan J. WilliamsPublic Affairs Consultant
Susan J. Williams, 67, an assistant secretary of transportation during the Carter administration who was also chairwoman of the Greater Washington Board of Trade and president of a political consulting firm, died of cardiac arrest March 26 at Inova Fairfax Hospital. She had had diabetes since she was 11.
In 1977, Mrs. Williams was appointed by President Jimmy Carter to be a deputy assistant secretary in the Department of Transportation. Two years later, she became assistant secretary for legislative affairs.
She left public service when Carter lost his bid for reelection and became a founding partner of Bracy Williams and Co. She served as president until 2001, when she formed Williams Aron & Associates, a public affairs consulting firm. She represented the American Airlines pilots association, among other clients.
In 1997, she was named chair of the Greater Washington Board of Trade, becoming the second woman to lead the organization since it was founded in 1889. She told The Washington Post that one of her goals was to lead the board's lobbying efforts to win congressional approval of President Bill Clinton's proposal to repair the District's chronic budget deficit.
Mrs. Williams, a McLean resident, was born in Philadelphia and grew up in Collingswood, N.J. She graduated from Upsala College in East Orange, N.J., in 1962 and moved to the District that year.
After marrying in 1965, she moved to Alexandria, where she became one of the first coordinators of a local Head Start program. She was also active in Democratic Party politics in Alexandria and Fairfax County. She served on the staff of District Del. Walter E. Fauntroy in the early 1970s and was a delegate for Morris Udall at the 1976 Democratic National Convention.
She served on the boards of the Henry L. Stimson Center, the American Institute for Public Service, the Historical Society of Washington, D.C., the National Aquarium in Baltimore and the D.C. Agenda Project. She also served on the boards of several financial institutions, including Abigail Adams National Bancorp and the Washington Real Estate Investment Trust. She was a member of the Economic Club of Washington and the Federal City Council.
Survivors include her husband of 43 years, Edwin A. Williams of McLean; a son, Morgan S. Williams of McLean; and a brother.
-- Joe Holley