Wednesday, April 9, 2008
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.
"He was the most fearless firefighter I ever worked with, and I crawled down many hallways with my knees burning and him leading the way," a fellow firefighter recalled on a Web site that Mr. Cones's son set up. "On more than one occasion, if it were not for him I would have bailed out, but he was a master at knowing just how far we could go without unnecessary risk."
Mr. Cones received a number of awards during his 23 years of service, including recognition from President Gerald R. Ford for helping to establish Fire Safety Day, a bronze medal of valor for rescuing two children from a residential fire in 1975 and an award from President Jimmy Carter for thwarting a suicide attempt.
After retiring as a captain in 1980, he worked until 2000 as the fire safety inspection engineer for Suburban Hospital in Bethesda. He enjoyed hunting, fishing, crabbing and boating and in later years took up woodworking, traveling, skiing, golf, crossword puzzles and card games, including pitch. He was a voracious reader of American and military history. He was a member of the Emerald Society, the American Legion, Knights of Pythias, the Optimist Club and the Calvert County Sportsman's Club.
Survivors include his wife of 43 years, Sheila Flanagan Cones of Annapolis; two children, Daniel Cones of Point of Rocks and Tracy Sacks of the District; two brothers, Gerald Cones of White Plains and Conrad Cones of Orlando; and one grandson.
-- Joe Holley
Harry HaymanComputer Engineer
Harry Hayman, 91, a computer engineer for NASA's Apollo space project, died of respiratory distress March 17 at West Boca Medical Center in Boca Raton, Fla. He was a former Silver Spring resident.
Mr. Hayman worked for NASA from the early 1960s until the Apollo program ended its missions to the moon in 1972. He became executive director of the IEEE Computer Society, a post he held until the mid-1980s, when he turned to running conferences for the organization until he retired in 1998.
Born in Allentown, Pa., Mr. Hayman grew up in New York and graduated from New York University. He sold candy door to door and taught himself how to operate a ham radio. The Federal Communications Commission hired him to move to Allegan, Mich., and eavesdrop on spy transmissions in the years before the United States entered World War II. When the United States entered the war, he joined the Navy and served as a radio operator, based in the Washington area.
Mr. Hayman joined the Census Bureau after the war. While on a leave from the government, he created WPGC radio station. He sold it shortly afterward to a partner in 1949 or 1950 and returned to the Census Bureau.
Survivors include his wife of 62 years, Edith Hayman of Boca Raton; four children, Gail Hayman of Aspen Hill, Beth Truman of White Oak, Sidney Hayman of White Oak and Stuart Hayman of Westchester, N.Y.; and nine grandchildren.
-- Patricia Sullivan
Robert Yoon Sung LeePhysician
Robert Yoon Sung Lee, 86, a retired physician and general surgeon in Alexandria and at Fort Myer's Radar Family Health Clinic, died April 2 of a heart attack at Inova Alexandria Hospital. He was a Falls Church resident and had lived previously in Arlington.
Dr. Lee was born in Kilauea, Hawaii, and studied at the University of Hawaii before graduating from Cornell University in 1944.
He received a medical degree from George Washington University in 1948 and then served as a Navy physician in Alaska from 1949 to 1951.
After a surgical internship at Bridgeport Hospital in Bridgeport, Conn., and a surgical residency at Brooklyn Hospital in New York, he opened a private practice in Alexandria in the late 1950s.
Until his retirement three years ago at age 83, he also worked two times a week, from 4 p.m. until noon the next day, as a physician at Radar Family Health Clinic at Fort Myer.
His marriages to Elsie Min Lee and Edwina Shelford Lee ended in divorce.
Survivors include a daughter from his first marriage, Carol A. Lee of Sacramento, and a daughter from his second marriage, Felicia K. Lee of Falls Church; two brothers; and two sisters.
-- Joe Holley
James A. RolenComputer Consultant
James A. Rolen, 69, a computer consultant who did work for branches of the armed forces, died March 20 at the Scottsdale-Osborne Medical Center in Scottsdale, Ariz., where he was visiting relatives. He died of MRSA pneumonia.
Mr. Rolen, a resident of Alexandria, did consulting work in the early 1990s for the Defense Department in the Washington area. He also taught courses for the Air Force.
He was born in Kansas City, Mo. He graduated from the University of Missouri, where he also received a master's degree in public administration in 1968.
He was a mortgage banker in Miami, where he was also a systems analyst and later vice president of mortgage banking at Citizens Federal Savings & Loan. From 1984 to 1992, he was president of RR&B, a consulting firm for savings and loan companies. He had lived in Alexandria since 1992.
He was active at Christ Church in Alexandria. He was in the Air Force Reserve from 1958 to 1998 and retired as a lieutenant colonel.
Survivors include his wife of nearly 34 years, Anna E. Rolen of Alexandria, and a daughter, Linda Perez of Edinburg, Tex.
-- Yvonne Shinhoster Lamb
Margaret Vico SuddarthLibrary Assistant
Margaret Vico Suddarth, 88, a retired library assistant at Quantico Marine Base, died April 5 of complications from a broken hip at her home in Dumfries.
Mrs. Suddarth was born in Irvington, N.J., and served in the Marine Corps during World War II. She reenlisted in 1947 and served in the Marines until 1952 as a master sergeant.
She joined Breckenridge Library at Quantico in 1968 and worked there until retirement in 1983. In retirement, Mrs. Suddarth traveled to Germany and her ancestral homeland of Greece. She was a member of Holy Family Catholic Church in Dale City and enjoyed bingo and flowers.
She supported many veterans' causes, including the Women in Military Service for America Memorial, the National World War II Memorial and the National Museum of the Marine Corps.
Her husband of 17 years, William T. Suddarth, died in a traffic accident in 1968.
Survivors include five children, Bill Suddarth of Bealeton, Suzie Gilley of Chester, Va., Margie Pfaff of Baldwin, Wis., Kathleen Suddarth of Woodbridge and John Suddarth of Mechanicsville, Va.; 10 grandchildren; and one great-grandson.
-- Matt Schudel