Obituaries

Ruth Breeze BerrySchool Librarian

Ruth Breeze Berry, 88, a former librarian at several Northern Virginia schools, died of congestive heart failure March 3 at the Fountains at Washington House in Alexandria, where she lived. Mrs. Berry was head librarian at Alexandria's Cora Kelly Elementary School, George Washington High School and Douglas MacArthur Elementary School, from which she retired in 1982.

She was born in Ziegler, Ill., and graduated from the University of Illinois. She married and after World War II moved to the Washington area. Her husband was a Foreign Service officer, so they lived at times in Ghana and Morocco as well.

Mrs. Berry began teaching elementary school in Falls Church. She received a master's degree in library science in 1972 from the University of Maryland.

She volunteered at Carlyle House and the Alexandria Hospital and for Friends of Homeless Animals of Northern Virginia. She enjoyed ballet at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and performances of Shakespeare's plays at the Folger Theatre. She was a member of the Beverly Hills Community United Methodist Church in Alexandria.

Her husband of 60 years, William E. Barry Jr., died in 2002.

Survivors include three children, William Berry of Beverly Hills, Calif., Anne Berry Howe of New York and John Berry of San Francisco; and three grandchildren.

-- Patricia Sullivan

Truman A. 'Tony' ConesFirefighter

Truman A. Cones, 73, a retired D.C. firefighter, died of emphysema April 2 at Anne Arundel Medical Center in Annapolis. He lived in District Heights and Broomes Island before moving to Annapolis in 1998.

Mr. Cones, known as Tony, was born in the District and graduated from St. Dominic's High School. He joined the fire department in 1957.

During the 1968 riots after the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., he fought fires for seven straight days without going home. As an acting battalion chief in the late 1970s, he was known for toughness and bravery and the ability to get along with people.