Tuesday, April 29, 2008
John Dawson ChaseNavy Rear Admiral
John Dawson Chase, 89, a decorated retired Navy rear admiral who served in three wars, died of multiple organ failure April 9 at TideWell Hospice and Palliative Care in Port Charlotte, Fla., while visiting in Florida. He was a resident of McLean.
Adm. Chase was born in Washington and grew up in Denver. He was appointed to the U.S. Naval Academy in 1936 and graduated in 1940.
He served in World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. During his 38 years of commissioned service, he served on aircraft carriers, cruisers, and principally on destroyers. He commanded a destroyer, a destroyer division, a guided-missile cruiser, a cruiser-destroyer flotilla and the U.S. Naval Weapons Laboratory at Dahlgren, Va., and the Military Sealift Command. Ashore he served in missile and fire control research and development billets.
He was a charter member of the Polaris ballistic missile development team.
He received a master's degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1948 and was elected to the Sigma Xi honorary fraternity. He was awarded two Legions of Merit and the Distinguished Service Medal.
After retirement, Adm. Chase worked in Tysons Corner for a technical company specializing in Navy issues for about six years.
He was a member of Immanuel Presbyterian Church in McLean and served as an elder. He also was active in the I Have a Dream Foundation's program for low-income children in Southeast Washington for 25 years.
His son, David Chase, died in 2006.
Survivors include his wife of 66 years, Elouise Chase of McLean; a sister; and a granddaughter.
-- Yvonne Shinhoster Lamb
Andrew S. DemingEngineer
Andrew S. Deming, 87, an engineer for Bradley Electro Sales, died of chronic lung disease April 12 at The Georgetown Retirement Residence in Washington, where he lived.
Mr. Deming worked for Bradley from 1947 until 1980, when he retired.
Born in Washington, he graduated from McKinley High School, in 1937, and the University of Maryland, and he attended Georgetown University's law school. From 1943 to 1947, he worked with the Navy's Bureau of Ships.
He was a rally master and competitor with the Sports Car Club of America from 1960 to 1980 and twice finished second in its national rally program.
He enjoyed foreign travel.
His wife of 65 years, Maidee Deming, died in December.
Survivors include four sons, Andrew Stacy Deming of Frederick, Daniel W. Deming of Accokeek, Victor H. Deming of Washington and Willoughby H. Deming of Portland, Ore.; five grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.
-- Patricia Sullivan
Sandra Lee Dixon HeineckSecretary
Sandra Lee Dixon Heineck, 60, who worked as a secretary at the Department of Commerce and later at two universities, died after a heart attack April 21 at her home in Manchester, Wis.
She was born in Alexandria and graduated from George Washington High School in 1966. She graduated from Northern Virginia Community College and worked at the Commerce Department until 1974, when she moved to Wisconsin. She worked as a secretary for the University of Wisconsin in Madison and later for the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse in the film library and ROTC department. She retired in 1998.
She enjoyed gardening, travel and Johnny Cash.
Survivors include her husband of 34 years, Timothy Heineck of Manchester, Wis.; two sons, Allen Heineck of Mindoro, Wis., and Martin Heineck of Stillwater, Minn.; four sisters, Deloris Ann Hummel of Las Vegas, Margaret Martin of Lively, Va., Nettie Stine of Irvington, Va., and Helen Mae Allen of White Stone, Va.; four brothers, Larry Donald Dixon of Alexandria, Frank Dixon of Moss Point, Miss., Henry Dixon of White Stone, Va., and Clarence Dixon of Abbeville, La.; and a granddaughter.
-- Patricia Sullivan
Grant E. MayberryProcurement Lawyer
Grant E. Mayberry, 81, a lawyer who specialized in procurement matters, died of heart disease April 25 at his home in Boonsboro, Md.
Mr. Mayberry worked for the Department of the Navy, the Defense Department and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency until retirement in 2000. He also founded and operated the Center for Procurement Management Studies in the 1970s.
He was born in Washington and served in the Navy during World War II in the Atlantic theater. He graduated from the University of Maryland and received a law degree from George Washington University in 1950.
Mr. Mayberry also wrote books for the American Management Association.
He moved from Montgomery County to Washington County in 1990 and became a vestryman at St. Mark's Episcopal Church Lappans in Boonsboro. He also volunteered in the state Republican Party.
Survivors include his wife of 58 years, Dejon Richards Mayberry of Boonsboro; three children, Timothy Mayberry of Zephyrhills, Fla., Alice Ducq of Olney and Peter Mayberry of McLean; two sisters; a brother; and three grandchildren.
-- Patricia Sullivan
Douglas Thomas RuppertSubstance Abuse Counselor
Douglas Thomas "Thom" Ruppert, 56, a substance abuse counselor at Community Connections in Washington for the past 15 years, collapsed and died April 12 while out for his morning run on the Montgomery Blair High School track in Silver Spring. He had a heart attack.
A Silver Spring native and resident, Mr. Ruppert graduated from Montgomery Blair High School and attended the University of Maryland. He received an associate's degree from Montgomery College and was a certified addictions counselor.
He belonged to the Alcoholics Anonymous Fellowship, from which he both drew and gave support for more than 25 years, his family said.
Mr. Ruppert had 21 years of sobriety, said his brother-in-law, Mark Smith.
"He was a great example of someone who can recover from a major problem," he said. "He really was an inspiration to other people."
Mr. Ruppert was a passionate athlete who ran several Marine Corps marathons and other races. He also enjoyed music and had a large LP collection of jazz, blues, folk and other music.
Survivors include his wife of nine years, Janet Harris of Silver Spring; two stepchildren, Brendan Ennis and Molly Ennis, both of Silver Spring; and four stepbrothers, Richard Padgett of Reston, Steven Padgett of Virginia Beach, James Padgett of Los Angeles and Vernon Padgett of Silver Spring.
-- Yvonne Shinhoster Lamb
Mary Tyler Driver YoungViolinist
Mary Tyler Driver Young, 94, a violinist and violin teacher in Alexandria, died of pneumonia April 11 at Capital Hospice in Arlington County.
Mrs. Young was born in Milton, Mass., and graduated from Milton Academy and the New England Conservatory of Music, where she received diplomas in orchestral music and soloist performance as a violinist in the late 1930s. She also attended the Conservatoire Americain in Fontainebleau, France, where she studied with Nadia Boulanger, Jean Morel and Paul Bazelaire. During World War II, she was a Red Cross volunteer in New York.
After her marriage, she and her husband lived in Oak Ridge, Tenn., where he worked as an engineer on the development of uranium to fuel the nation's first atomic bomb. The couple settled in Alexandria in the early 1950s.
She had a deep and sustaining love of music and was often in demand as a violinist. She played with the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra as concert master and first violin and with numerous other groups, including the Friday Morning Music Club, the Virginia Chamber Orchestra and the Washington Metropolitan Philharmonic (formerly the Mount Vernon Orchestra). She also gave private lessons in violin and viola and played in a program that brought classical music to students in more than 40 public schools in the Washington area.
Mrs. Young worked with the PTA, Rosemont Citizens Association, Colonial Dames, Mayflower Descendants and other civic and social groups.
Her husband, Clinton J.T. Young, died in 2001.
Survivors include three children, Dr. Clinton D. Young of Greensboro, N.C., Russell M. Young of Silver Spring and Eleanor A. King of Alexandria; and two grandchildren.
-- Joe Holley